Part 1. Learning Ant

Welcome to Ant in Action, an in-depth guide to the ubiquitous Java build tool. In this book, we’re going to explore the tool thoroughly, using it to build everything from a simple little Java library to a complete server-side application.

Chapters 1 through 8 lay the foundation for using Ant. In this section, you’ll learn the fundamentals of Java build processes—including compilation, packaging, testing, and distribution—and how Ant facilitates each step. Ant’s reusable datatypes and properties play an important role in writing maintainable and extensible build files. After reading this section, you’ll be ready to use Ant in your own projects.