unix - Auto-restart process on crash

I have a Java server process which runs native code and the possibility of the entire process crashing due to a problem in native code is always there. Is there any mechanism offered by *nix operating systems wherein I can make the process re-spawn itself when it exists abnormally (exit status != 0)?

Is there any tool/utility out there which can automate this task for any kind of process by providing a certain level of control/configuration at the same time?

Answer

There's a few options - you could always wrap it in a short shell script like this:-

#!/bin/sh

RC=1
while [ $RC -ne 0 ]; do
   ./my-java-app
   RC=$?
done

Far from elegant, but may suffice.