ANT newbie question

What can ANT (or a script/make file for that matter) do for my project that just using the basic compile in my IDE (IntelliJ) won't do?
I'm asking this question because I have never coded in C or any other language that uses a makefile(so please be gentle). I have about 30 classes that I am working with at the moment. I'm willing to try new tools if they offer an obvious advantage in how I code/distribute code. I looked at the FAQ on the ANT site and read a few articles here, but because they expect most people to know what make files do for you, they usually just talk about the advantages of ANT over make/script files. I really want to know what the advantages of ANT are over a standard IDE compile.
Thanks for your input.

If you are only talking about compiling a single piece of code (not part of a large project/stand alone), nothing much. If you are talking building a complex application, then it becomes more clear. It is a tool. All tools have their uses.
Take a look at this thread. It might give you a better understanding.
[ January 13, 2003: Message edited by: Paul Stevens ]

Using a build tool (such as Ant) gives you the ability to do everything you need to in one go. For example, I have an ant build file which:

compiles all the source files in my project "java" directory and creates a "jar" file of the classes.

compiles all the source files in my project "loadable" directory and places the class files in a "classes" directory

compiles and runs a complete unit test suite against the classes compiled above.

runs a bunch of XML files through an XSLT styleheet to generate nicely decorated HTML

builds a complte "war" file from the jar file, loadable classes, generated HTML files, a "web.xml" file and some other resource files.

copies the "war" file to a directory monitored by a local test webserver

restarts the test server if necessary

runs an acceptance test suite against the deployed application

transfers the "war" file to a remote server by FTP

logs in to the remote server using telnet and restarts its webserver.

I can do all this just by typing "ant deploy". If any of the steps fail, the whole process stops with a sensible error message.
Can your IDE do this, or would you have to do most of it manually?

Ah I see... Hmm, I'll have to check out ANT some more that sounds like it would be very useful.
Thanks to both of you