#summary An overview of the different distributables which can be downloaded in the download section.
#labels Featured,Category-Users

= Introduction =
Hamcrest consists of different jars matching the different needs of applications. This document describes these distributables and the functionality contained in each of them.


= Overview of distributables =

==hamcrest-core.jar==
This is the core API to be used by third-party framework providers. This includes a foundation set of matcher implementations for common operations.
This API is stable and will rarely change. You will need
this library as a minimum.

==hamcrest-library.jar==
The ever-growing library of Matcher implementations which are based on the core functionality in hamcrest-core.jar. 
This will grow between releases.

==hamcrest-generator.jar==
A tool to allow many Matcher implementations to be combined into a single class with static methods returning the different matchers so users don't have to remember many classes/packages to import. Generates code. This library is only used internally at compile time. It is not necessary for the use of any of the other hamcrest libraries at runtime.

==hamcrest-integration.jar==
Provides integration between Hamcrest and other testing tools, including JUnit (3 and 4), TestNG, jMock and EasyMock.
Uses hamcrest-core.jar and hamcrest-library.jar.

==hamcrest-all.jar==
One jar containing all classes of all the other jars.

=Maven-Versions=
The description above also applies to the hamcrest Maven artifacts. The dependencies of the jars (hamcrest-integration uses hamcrest-library which uses hamcrest-core) is represented by the Maven dependency mechanism.
There is no hamcrest-all library in the Maven repo. Just use hamcrest-integration which references all the other hamcrest libraries.