# Uses for IKVM.NET
IKVM.NET is useful for several different software development scenarios. Here is a sampling of some of the possibilities. Drop-in JVM Use Java libraries in your .NET applications Develop .NET applications in Java ### Drop-in JVM The ikvm application included with the distribution is a .NET implementation of a Java Virtual Machine. In many cases, you can use it as a drop-in replacement for java. For example, instead of typing java -jar myapp.jar to run an application, you can type ikvm -jar myapp.jar ### Use Java libraries in your .NET applications IKVM.NET includes ikvmc, a Java bytecode to .NET IL translator. If you have a Java library that you would like to use in a .NET application, run ikvmc -target:library mylib.jar to create mylib.dll. For example, the Apache FOP project is an open source XSL-FO processor written in Java that is widely used to generate PDF documents from XML source. With IKVM.NET technology, Apache FOP can be used by any .NET application. ### Develop .NET applications in Java IKVM provides a way for you to develop .NET applications in Java. Although IKVM.NET does not include a Java compiler for .NET, you can use any Java compiler to compile Java source code to JVM bytecode, then use ikvmc -target:exe myapp.jar to produce a .NET executable. You can even use .NET API's in your Java code using the included ikvmstub application. |

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