Apache ant learning notes (1): Learn about ant

1. Software build

　　Software buildIs the process of converting the source file of a program into an application or application component that can be directly used. The software build process involves operations that we are familiar with, such as file/folder operations, compilation, testing, packaging, deployment, and release.

The following describes a simple software build process: first, a series of folders are created to store a series of files, such as source files and resource files. After the source files are compiled, compile it (debugging will be performed if an error occurs) and test it (unit test). After all source files of the program are compiled, test all source files; after the test is completed, if no errors are found, package the target and related resource files generated by compilation to generate a packaging file; deploy all the components of the program according to the specific structure. Finally, upload the program file to the server for publishing.

During the above software construction process, you often need to create, copy, move, and delete files/folders. during the development process, one or several of these building processes are often repeated. If you perform these building processes manually, it will be very cumbersome, especially when the program size is very large. In this case, using software build tools saves a lot of trouble, while Apache ant is an excellent Java-based software build tool.

2. Apache ant

　　Apache antIs a Java-based build tool. In theory, Apache ant is similar to the Make tool, but does not have any defect in the make tool. Although Apache ant is compiled by Java, it is not only used to build Java programs, but can also be used to build programs written in other languages, although it is widely used in Java program construction. The following descriptions are based on Java.

3. Advantages of Apache ant

. Cross-platform:Apache ant is written in Java, so it has good cross-platform performance.

. Easy operation:Apache ant requires an xml configuration file. This xml configuration file defines a series of build processes, each of which contains one or more operations. Due to the characteristics of XML, the construction process is easy to maintain and write, and the structure is very clear.

. Rich functions and easy Scalability:Apache ant has multiple built-in tasks and many Optional tasks that include most of the operations during the build process. When none of these tasks meet the building requirements, you can also customize the tasks as needed.

4. install Apache ant

To use Apache ant, you must first install JDK and Apache ant.

If you have not installed JDK, you can download and install JDK first.

If you have not installed Apache ant, download and install Apache ant as follows:

Go to the Apache ant official website (http://ant.apache.org/bindownload.cgi) to select the version to download (to select a JDK-compatible version) to download.

. Decompress the downloaded installation file to the specified directory (for example, E: \ ant)

. Set the environment variable and add the path (E: \ ant \ bin) of the bin directory of Apache ant to the path environment variable.

. Test whether Apache ant is installed successfully. Enter the command line tool and enter ant-version to check whether the version information is output. If yes, the installation is successful. Otherwise, the installation fails (check whether JDK is installed successfully and whether ant environment variable configuration is correct ).

 

Apache ant learning notes (1): Learn about ant