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what is ant and what is velocity
 
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Ant is a java based build tool, kind of like Make or GnuMake, iMake etc. The difference is that instead of shell scripts the build process is 'scripted' in xml files which are then processed by ant.
These xml files call out to java classes to perform the specified function. Being java based makes your build platform independent and you can also write your own tasks to supplement or extend those provided by Ant.
For mor info check out:
http://jakarta.apache.org/ant/

I am not very familiar with Velocity but I believe it is a template engine which allows for easier development of web pages. I believe it allows the web designers to make the pages more dynamic by including calls to java code without really having to deal with the code. You can find more aobut it at:
http://jakarta.apache.org/velocity/user-guide.html#What%20is%20Velocity?
 
Pradeep bhatt
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Is being platform independent is the only plus point of Ant build tool.
 
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Sometimes it's not just because of "plus points".
If you're ever going to use any Apache jakarta's frameworks; and you need to recompile the builds - then ANT is a MUST.
Pho
 
Pradeep bhatt
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That is bad. Forcing me to use ant only and not something else..
The only advantage I see with Ant is its platform independence ...but is it worth spending time learning ANT

Originally posted by Pho Tek:
Sometimes it's not just because of "plus points".
If you're ever going to use any Apache jakarta's frameworks; and you need to recompile the builds - then ANT is a MUST.
Pho


 
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Originally posted by Pradeep Bhat:
...but is it worth spending time learning ANT


It really depends on what you want to use it for. I only use Ant as a compile/jar tool. The great thing about Ant is that it is very easy to learn a task if you already know some xml basics. I used Thomas Paul's newsletter article to learn the basics of Ant. It was very quick and very easy to learn. Once you have the basics down, you will only need to learn the tasks that you plan on using. Each task has a few configuration options and is pretty easy to learn.
 
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Originally posted by Pradeep Bhat:
That is bad. Forcing me to use ant only and not something else..


Nobody forces you to use ant. But ant does bring you productivity when you are developing sth.
 
Pradeep bhatt
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That was an intresting article. I have decided to use Ant for all my future projects.

Originally posted by Matthew Phillips:

It really depends on what you want to use it for. I only use Ant as a compile/jar tool. The great thing about Ant is that it is very easy to learn a task if you already know some xml basics. I used Thomas Paul's newsletter article to learn the basics of Ant. It was very quick and very easy to learn. Once you have the basics down, you will only need to learn the tasks that you plan on using. Each task has a few configuration options and is pretty easy to learn.

 
timothy zimmerman
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I don't think anyone is forced to use Ant but most all of the Jakarta projects do include Ant scripts in order to build them/examples etc. You could of course choose to build these any way you want.
Platform independence is nice but not the be all end all. It is nice though to know that you can take work you hve already done and move it to a new environment with minimal disruption.
Ant is pretty easy to learn and is quickly becoming a prominent build tool in the java community. It is at least worth consideration.
.. and it looks like you have already come to some decisions while I was typing the above
[ August 09, 2002: Message edited by: timothy zimmerman ]
 
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a bit of art, as a gift, that will fit in a stocking
https://gardener-gift.com
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