[Javaweb-people] build tools

[Nic Ferrier]

I've been trying to improve the java makefile that I wrote and I'm
not getting very far. I'm frustrated and annoyed.

I'm rapdily coming to the conclusion that the only succesfull way to
build java is to use Ant.



The problem is that make has embedded into it the idea of a compiler
invocation being for a single file. Dependancies for each file to be
built are other single files. Each make action is generating one
obejct file from one source file.

In this way make can easily track simple dependancies between an
object file and it's dependancy.


This is what knackers java building. To compile java files
individually doesn't seem to be the best way to go for two reasons:

- make has to invoke the java compiler for each class, that's slow
- the user then has to work out the dependancies and keep changing
  the makefile

It would be nice if make had some way of deliverting all the targets
of a multiple target rule to it's action. But it doesn't (afaik).


Which means that Ant is the only real option for a well controlled
java build.

Now, personally, I hate Ant. I think all that XML is way over the top
*and* it's BSD and they don't know the meaning of documentation.

Ant has real problems as well... it seems to most often be used to do
package granular building (where all source files in a source package
are compiled). That's problematic because you might have source that
you don't want compiled... still not insurmountable.


But Does anybody else here think that Ant is a reasonable thing for
GNU projects?

Would patching make be feasible? (bearing in mind that the GNU people
don't exactly leap with joy when the word java is mentioned).



Nic