Aims of This Chapter

To build any project, you must define the set of rules about how the project's outputs should be constructed. For Java development environments, these rules typically are defined using the Apache Ant build tool. After reading this chapter, you will be able to

• Create an Ant build script to compile and test a typical Java project.

• Configure Eclipse to use your own installed version of Ant.

With Ant's increasing popularity, the majority of Java graphical Integrated Development Environments (IDEs) now include support for Ant build file editing and execution. IDEs have the advantage of understanding the Ant domain. Consequently, this helps you isolate and correct issues with your build scripts. This is very useful when you are first learning. This chapter discusses the integration of Ant in Eclipse, the popular open-source development environment (www.eclipse.org). Although this discussion is specific to Eclipse, it applies equally to any commercial IDE that is built on top of it, such as Rational Application Developer.

This chapter assumes that you have no existing knowledge of Ant.