Skip to main content

By clicking Submit, you agree to the developerWorks terms of use.

The first time you sign into developerWorks, a profile is created for you. Select information in your developerWorks profile is displayed to the public, but you may edit the information at any time. Your first name, last name (unless you choose to hide them), and display name will accompany the content that you post.

All information submitted is secure.

  • Close [x]

The first time you sign in to developerWorks, a profile is created for you, so you need to choose a display name. Your display name accompanies the content you post on developerworks.

Please choose a display name between 3-31 characters. Your display name must be unique in the developerWorks community and should not be your email address for privacy reasons.

By clicking Submit, you agree to the developerWorks terms of use.

All information submitted is secure.

  • Close [x]

Select a language:

  • Close [x]
  • Close [x]

Build software with Gant

Flexible builds are easier with the marriage of Groovy and Ant

Andrew Glover (aglover@stelligent.com), President, Stelligent Incorporated
Andrew Glover is president of Stelligent Incorporated, which helps companies address software quality with effective developer testing strategies and continuous integration techniques that enable teams to monitor code quality early and often. Check out Andy's blog for a list of his published work.

Summary:  Gant is a highly versatile build framework that leverages both Groovy and Apache Ant to let you implement programmatic logic while using all of Ant's capabilities. In this tutorial, Andy Glover guides you step-by-step through Gant's fundamental concepts. You'll learn how to define behavior in your build through Gant's flexible domain-specific language, how to reuse Ant features, and how to define functions that make your builds more efficient and even proactive.

Date:  27 May 2008
Level:  Intermediate
PDF:  A4 and Letter (84 KB | 25 pages)Get Adobe® Reader®

Activity:  15159 views
Comments:  

Before you start

About this tutorial

In this tutorial, you'll get to know Gant, a build framework that leverages both Groovy and Apache's Ant to produce a highly versatile medium that lets you implement programmatic logic while reusing all of Ant's functionality.

Back to top

Objectives

This tutorial guides you step-by-step through the fundamental concepts of Gant. You'll learn how to:

  • Define behavior in your build through Gant's flexible domain-specific language (DSL)
  • Reuse Ant
  • Define functions that enable reuse and even proactivity within your builds

When you are done with the tutorial, you will understand the benefits of using Gant for building software, and you'll be set to start using Gant in your everyday Java™ development.

Back to top

Prerequisites

To get the most from this tutorial, you should be familiar with Java syntax and the basic concepts of object-oriented development on the Java platform. You should be familiar with Ant as well. In addition, it is highly recommended that you read the tutorial "Fluently Groovy" also by Andrew Glover.

Back to top

System requirements

To follow along and try out the code for this tutorial, you need a working installation of either:

You'll also need to install Groovy and Gant. The tutorial text includes detailed instructions for those installations.

The recommended system configuration for this tutorial is:

  • A system supporting either the Sun JDK 1.5.0_09 (or later) or the IBM JDK 1.5.0 SR3 with at least 500MB of main memory
  • At least 20MB of disk space to install the software components and examples covered

The instructions and examples in the tutorial are based on a Microsoft® Windows® operating system. All the tools covered in the tutorial also work on Linux® and UNIX systems.

1 of 13 | Next

Comments

Back to top

Close [x]

Help: Update or add to My dW interests

What's this?

This little timesaver lets you update your My developerWorks profile with just one click! The general subject of this content (AIX and UNIX, Information Management, Lotus, Rational, Tivoli, WebSphere, Java, Linux, Open source, SOA and Web services, Web development, or XML) will be added to the interests section of your profile, if it's not there already. You only need to be logged in to My developerWorks.

And what's the point of adding your interests to your profile? That's how you find other users with the same interests as yours, and see what they're reading and contributing to the community. Your interests also help us recommend relevant developerWorks content to you.

View your My developerWorks profile

Return from help

Close [x]

Help: Remove from My dW interests

What's this?

Removing this interest does not alter your profile, but rather removes this piece of content from a list of all content for which you've indicated interest. In a future enhancement to My developerWorks, you'll be able to see a record of that content.

View your My developerWorks profile

Return from help

static.content.url=http://www.ibm.com/developerworks/js/artrating/
SITE_ID=1
Zone=Java technology, Open source
ArticleID=309597
TutorialTitle=Build software with Gant
publish-date=05272008
author1-email=aglover@stelligent.com
author1-email-cc=

Table of contents

1 of 13 | Next

Local resources

Tags

Help
Use the search field to find all types of content in My developerWorks with that tag.

Use the slider bar to see more or fewer tags.

Popular tags shows the top tags for this particular content zone (for example, Java technology, Linux, WebSphere).

My tags shows your tags for this particular content zone (for example, Java technology, Linux, WebSphere).

Use the search field to find all types of content in My developerWorks with that tag. Popular tags shows the top tags for this particular content zone (for example, Java technology, Linux, WebSphere). My tags shows your tags for this particular content zone (for example, Java technology, Linux, WebSphere).

 

Dig deeper into Java on developerWorks

Discover knowledge paths

Knowledge path logo

Skill-building guides for Java, Linux, open source, cloud, business analytics, and more.

Share this page:

  • Close [x]

Follow developerWorks:

  • Close [x]