dex2jar
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Description:
Tools to work with Android .dex and Java .class files
Type: Formula  |  Latest Version: 2.4@0  |  Tracked Since: Dec 17, 2025
Links: Homepage  |  formulae.brew.sh
Category: Developer tools
Tags: android reverse-engineering java decompiler security
Install: brew install dex2jar
About:
dex2jar is a set of command-line tools for converting Android Dalvik Executable (.dex) files into Java bytecode (.jar) and for disassembling .dex files into human-readable smali. This enables developers to analyze, reverse-engineer, or debug Android applications on the Java Virtual Machine. It is an essential utility for Android security research and application interoperability.
Key Features:
  • Converts .dex files to .jar (Java bytecode)
  • Includes d2j-smali for disassembling .dex to smali code
  • Supports decompiling .jar files back to Java source
  • Cross-platform command-line interface
  • Open-source and extensible
Use Cases:
  • Reverse engineering Android applications for security analysis
  • Debugging Android apps by inspecting Java bytecode
  • Modifying app logic by editing smali or Java code
  • Recovering lost source code from APK files
Alternatives:
  • jadx – Jadx is a popular alternative that offers a graphical user interface (GUI) and direct decompilation to Java source, whereas dex2jar is primarily a command-line suite of conversion tools.
License: Apache-2.0
Dependencies: openjdk
Bottles available for: all
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