A Java-Based Build Tool

Edit Package ant

Apache Ant is a Java-based build tool. In theory, it is kind of like
Make, but without Make's wrinkles.

Why another build tool when there is already make, gnumake, nmake, jam,
and others? Because all those tools have limitations that Ant's
original author could not live with when developing software across
multiple platforms. Make-like tools are inherently shell-based--they
evaluate a set of dependencies then execute commands, not unlike what
you would issue in a shell. This means that you can easily extend these
tools by using or writing any program for the OS that you are working
on. However, this also means that you limit yourself to the OS, or at
least the OS type, such as Unix, that you are working on.

Makefiles are inherently evil as well. Anybody who has worked on them
for any time has run into the dreaded tab problem. "Is my command not
executing because I have a space in front of my tab???" said the
original author of Ant way too many times. Tools like Jam took care of
this to a great degree, but still have yet another format to use and
remember.

Ant is different. Instead of a model where it is extended with
shell-based commands, Ant is extended using Java classes. Instead of
writing shell commands, the configuration files are XML-based, calling
out a target tree where various tasks are executed. Each task is run by
an object that implements a particular task interface.

Granted, this removes some of the expressive power that is inherent by
being able to construct a shell command such as `find . -name foo -exec
rm {}`, but it gives you the ability to be cross-platform--to work
anywhere and everywhere. If you really need to execute a shell command,
Ant has an task that allows different commands to be executed
based on the OS used.

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Source Files
Filename Size Changed
README.PACKAGER 0000000110 110 Bytes
ant-1.7.1.pom 0000009758 9.53 KB
ant-antlr-1.7.1.pom 0000003143 3.07 KB
ant-antlr-prepare.sh 0000001249 1.22 KB
ant-antlr.changes 0000013961 13.6 KB
ant-antlr.spec 0000037266 36.4 KB
ant-apache-bcel-1.7.1.pom 0000002879 2.81 KB
ant-apache-bsf-1.7.1.pom 0000003099 3.03 KB
ant-apache-log4j-1.7.1.pom 0000002801 2.74 KB
ant-apache-oro-1.7.1.pom 0000002880 2.81 KB
ant-apache-regexp-1.7.1.pom 0000002808 2.74 KB
ant-apache-resolver-1.7.1.pom 0000002809 2.74 KB
ant-commons-logging-1.7.1.pom 0000002905 2.84 KB
ant-commons-net-1.7.1.pom 0000003041 2.97 KB
ant-javamail-1.7.1.pom 0000003173 3.1 KB
ant-jdepend-1.7.1.pom 0000002969 2.9 KB
ant-jmf-1.7.1.pom 0000002962 2.89 KB
ant-jsch-1.7.1.pom 0000002912 2.84 KB
ant-junit-1.7.1.pom 0000003757 3.67 KB
ant-launcher-1.7.1.pom 0000002383 2.33 KB
ant-netrexx-1.7.1.pom 0000002955 2.89 KB
ant-nodeps-1.7.1.pom 0000006036 5.89 KB
ant-parent-1.7.1.pom 0000004378 4.28 KB
ant-starteam-1.7.1.pom 0000002932 2.86 KB
ant-stylebook-1.7.1.pom 0000002926 2.86 KB
ant-swing-1.7.1.pom 0000002710 2.65 KB
ant-trax-1.7.1.pom 0000003904 3.81 KB
ant-weblogic-1.7.1.pom 0000003247 3.17 KB
ant.changes 0000011041 10.8 KB
ant.spec 0000038832 37.9 KB
apache-ant-1.7.1-src.tar.bz2 0006979386 6.66 MB
apache-ant-1.7.ant.conf 0000000391 391 Bytes
apache-ant-gnu-classpath.patch 0000001791 1.75 KB
apache-ant-jars.patch 0000000656 656 Bytes
apache-ant-no-test-jar.patch 0000000426 426 Bytes
apache-ant-source-level.patch 0000000524 524 Bytes
ready 0000000000 0 Bytes
Latest Revision
Adrian Schröter's avatar Adrian Schröter (adrianSuSE) committed (revision 6)
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