What files to ship with binaries when releasing software?

Question

I'm a college student and know how to code in C++, C#.NET and Java.

The thing is we can create programs, put them to work, etc. (Sorry if this sounds vague)

But, is there a industry-wide standard followed when shipping binaries to customers? Not worrying about licenses, but, for example, look at my application (when bundled with an installer) in C:\Program Files\MyApp\ and you may find my EXEcutable and other necessary DLLs/binaries, but, look at some other packages (professional) made with Java/C#.NET,

one finds numerous files, directories which are well-organized.

My concern is, how to make a "professional" release software (and what all extra files to include and why) that can be shipped to the user?

Thank you.

Answer 1

Typically by distribution on the internet you want to supply a single installer file which will unpack any libraries and resources that your program requires. Your program is quite simple and doesn't depend on multiple external modules, so you have no need to incorporate multiple files in your distribution package, just the executable. When you begin producing applications that require access to 3rd party APIs and such you will need the bind them to the installation package.