WHITE PAPERS SPONSORED PROFILES JOB BOARD WEBINAR CENTER FREE SOFTWARE BZ RESEARCH ALMSHAREPOINT EVENTS CALENDAR PRINT/PDF EDITION PRINT/PDF BACK ISSUES

SUBSCRIBE TODAY CUSTOMER SERVICE EDITORIAL CALENDAR EDITORIAL BEATS GUEST VIEW GUIDE SD TIMES 100 GUIDE EVENTS CALENDAR ADVERTISING ARTICLE REPRINTS REPORT A BUG SITE MAP

ABOUT US BZ MEDIA NEWS BZ RESEARCH NEWS ON MONDAY SPTECHREPORT SPTECHWEB SPTECHCON IPHONE/IPAD DEVCON ANDROID DEVCON PRIVACY POLICY CONTACT US

HOME >> COLUMNS

Integration Watch: Maven goes commercial

By Andrew Binstock

December 15, 2008 — (Page 1 of 2)
As I discussed in this column months ago, Ant is by no means the only—nor is it necessarily the best—build tool for Java environments. Rather, Ant is the universal build tool; it can handle any build task well. But it needs lots of configuration to do so.

When you specify what the steps should be, how they should be performed and the order in which they should be executed, Ant faithfully chugs down the list, completing one task after another. The extensive directions are the price Ant exacts for its flexibility. And in that way, it is reminiscent of the make utility, except that it uses XML for its syntax.

Ant is verbose because it uses no particular build model. In fact, such basic functions such as JUnit were not bundled with Ant until recently.

Jason van Zyl, the force behind Maven, recognized that a tool designed around a comprehensive build model could eliminate a lot of the overhead in Ant scripts. So he devised a basic tool blueprint that included naming and location conventions for project files, an artifact repository and—crucially—the ability to follow a default compile-test-package-install-deploy build model without being told to do so at each stage. In addition, he figured that many sites would want reports on the project build, so Maven generates an entire website with status information and has a simple mechanism for adding more reports.

Essentially, Maven embraces the Ruby on Rails creed: convention over configuration. (Actually, Maven predates Rails, but Rails made the expression famous.) And, as with Rails, if you follow the Maven conventions, your time spent configuring is greatly reduced. Maven has found wide adoption over the years, and its user community continues to grow.

One problem that developers interested in adopting Maven faced in the past was the paucity of good documentation. For years, there were only scribbles on the Apache website, and developers had to figure things out for themselves. Eventually, van Zyl and other Maven developers published “Better Builds with Maven,” which finally gave Ant escapees a way into the fold. That book is still available for free download, but read on before getting it.

Related Search Term(s): Ant, Java, Maven, open source, Sonatype

Pages 1 2

Share this link: http://sdt.bz/33109

Most Read Latest News Blog Resources

Branching and merging: the heart of version control
Providers hold their own views of the landscape, but the Git SCM system is drawing looks from them all

Not so fast when it comes to testing in the cloud
Developers face outsourcing, virtual lab management and mobile devices as obstacles

Microsoft pivots toward business intelligence
The goal is to make business intelligence accessible "to the masses"

From the Editors: Node.js is unruly, but that’s where the fun is
The time to get involved with Node.js is now; Hadoop is about to break its own barriers

Top five apps to manage your workload
Web applications offer new ways to track your “to-do” lists

Not so fast when it comes to testing in the cloud
Developers face outsourcing, virtual lab management and mobile devices as obstacles

Xceed releases UX-focused suite for Microsoft’s WPF
"Blendables" helps match user experiences to developer visions

Microsoft pivots toward business intelligence
The goal is to make business intelligence accessible "to the masses"

GitHire: Use Headhunters to Find Your Perfect Programmer
Are you a hiring manager tired of scouring the job boards? Check out this new service that will find 5 people interested in your jobs.

Facebook claims hacker cred
Facebook's SEC S-1 filing form includes a short essay on the Hacker Way by Mark Zuckerberg himself.

Ryan Dahl steps down
Ryan Dahl, creator of Node.js, steps back from his position as gatekeeper for the project.

Bloomberg opens its API
Bloomberg's APIs could lead to a future standard for accessing market data.

The Hidden Costs of Software Licensing Moving beyond paper-based software licensing to more flexible, software-based licensing is a business decision. There is a growing trend tow...

Case Study: You May Need a Development Mechanic As a contractor for a major financial player in Germany, SOBEGE, a German-based consultancy specializing in embedded IT and web services, wa...

Ensuring Software Quality at a Major International Bank One of the world’s leading international banks has adopted AgitarOne technology for delivering generated unit tests for their Java software...

Load Testing Adobe Flex Applications Adobe Flex applications may be different from applications you’ve worked with before. For classic HTML web applications, the server does all...

Technorati

Digg

Slashdot

Facebook

Friendfeed

Twitter

del.icio.us

Sonatype names former Zend exec Mark de Visser as CEO Jason van Zyl, the creator of the Maven, praised the appointment of Mark de Visser, who last worked at Zend, the company behind the PHP language. De Visser is expected to lend his expertise in growing the Maven community and improving its code quality.

Sonatype offers insight into enterprise open-source usage Tool suite helps organizations manage how they bring code into their development

Nexus Pro addresses enterprise repository woes In an attempt to ease some of the processes involved in managing Maven repositories and protecting against open-source policy violations, Sonatype's Nexus Professional can automate and organize those processes.

Add comment

Name*
Email*
Country

Comment

Sonatype names former Zend exec Mark de Visser as CEO
Jason van Zyl, the creator of the Maven, praised the appointment of Mark de Visser, who last worked at Zend, the company behind the PHP language. De Visser is expected to lend his expertise in growing the Maven community and improving its code quality Read More...

News on Monday
more>>
SharePoint Tech Report
more>>

Download Current Issue
FEBRUARY 2012 PDF ISSUE

Need Back Issues?
DOWNLOAD HERE

Want to subscribe?

GitHire: Use Headhunters to Find Your Perfect Programmer
Are you a hiring manager tired of scouring the job boards? Check out this new service that will find 5 people interested in your jobs.
02/03/2012 12:17 PM EST

Facebook claims hacker cred
Facebook's SEC S-1 filing form includes a short essay on the Hacker Way by Mark Zuckerberg himself.
02/02/2012 08:26 AM EST

Ryan Dahl steps down
Ryan Dahl, creator of Node.js, steps back from his position as gatekeeper for the project.
02/01/2012 04:58 PM EST

Bloomberg opens its API
Bloomberg's APIs could lead to a future standard for accessing market data.
02/01/2012 04:41 PM EST

The case for piracy
In the aftermath of SOPA and PIPA, some copyright holders have begun to embrace piracy as inevitable...and even beneficial.
01/30/2012 02:39 PM EST

Tablet sales boom, but applications lag
The installed base of tablet computers and e-book readers is growing rapidly, but no killer app has yet emerged -- hint, hint.
01/28/2012 05:48 PM EST