Apache Ant script reuse

by Julian Simpson on June 10, 2009

The Maven guys have got one thing (and others, I’m not being mean) right – we reinvent the wheel too much on Java projects.

Seems a bit 2002-esque to write an Ant build from scratch these days.

Update: this tweet from JTF suggests another tool.

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Alex Honor

The Maven guys understood the need for a standard life cycle. Given that, it is possible to create a template based Ant build environment. It's all about adopting and adhering to a common convention that includes user-definable extension points.

simpsonjulian

I think it's the way forward. As Chris pointed out in the podcast I blogged yesterday, the build is becoming a first class citizen (well, I could name some organisations where it isn't, but they already reap the problems that they've sown). When that happens, things tend to get fixed pretty quick.

Douglas Squirrel

Grails seems to get this right. It dictates the file layout and provides canned targets for common tasks, as Maven does, but doesn't try to maintain a dependency registry or overcomplicate your build with a maze of obscure configuration. It's certainly nice to build and deploy without having written a line of build code.