MATLAB: With the MATLAB Compiler, why is the installer produced when I select Runtime Include in package smaller than the size of the MATLAB Runtime installer itself

exe sizeMATLAB Compilerruntime installation

I used the MATLAB R2018b Compiler to compile a standalone program. If I chose "Runtime included in package", the final EXE is 988,725 KB. The MATLAB Runtime installer itself is 1,732,559 KB. Is only part of the MATLAB Runtime included in the EXE?

Best Answer

Possible explanation for this might be:
Starting R2015b, you can separate the core(Full installation of MATLAB Runtime) and GPU (MATLAB Runtime along with the GPU Components).The core version of the MATLAB Runtime does not have the GPU libraries and saves about 300mb of space(MATLAB Runtime will be around 1.3GB instead of the full sized version).
Starting R2016a, when the MCR is packaged along with an application that uses just the numeric functions of MATLAB, the MATLAB Compiler generates a stripped down MCR and it occupies around 330MB.
Note: This selective variant is available only when the runtime is packaged along with the component and not when downloaded from the website
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