What is Apache Ant?
Ant is a Java-based build tool. In theory, it is kind of like Make, without Make's wrinkles and with the full portability of pure Java code.
Apache Ant is a tool in the Java Build Tools category of a tech stack.
Apache Ant is an open source tool with 426 GitHub stars and 432 GitHub forks. Here’s a link to Apache Ant's open source repository on GitHub
Who uses Apache Ant?
Companies
43 companies reportedly use Apache Ant in their tech stacks, including LinkedIn, doubleSlash, and Scopeland Technology GmbH.
Developers
132 developers on StackShare have stated that they use Apache Ant.
Apache Ant Integrations
SonarQube, Veracode, Black Duck, WhiteSource, and FOSSA are some of the popular tools that integrate with Apache Ant. Here's a list of all 10 tools that integrate with Apache Ant.
Pros of Apache Ant
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Decisions about Apache Ant
Here are some stack decisions, common use cases and reviews by companies and developers who chose Apache Ant in their tech stack.
Joshua Dean Küpper
CEO at Scrayos UG (haftungsbeschränkt) · | 2 upvotes · 338.2K views
All Java-Projects are compiled using Apache Maven. We prefer it over Apache Ant and Gradle as it combines lightweightness with feature-richness and offers basically all we can imagine from a software project-management tool and more. We're open however to re-evaluate this decision in favor of Gradle or Bazel in the future if we feel like we're missing out on anything.
Apache Ant's Features
- The most complete Java build and deployment tool available.
- Platform neutral and can handle platform specific properties such as file separators
- Can be used to perform platform specific tasks such as modifying the modified time of a file using 'touch' command
- Scripts are written using plain XML. If you are already familiar with XML, you can learn pretty quickly
- Automate complicated repetitive tasks
- Interface to develop custom tasks
- Can be easily invoked from the command line and it can integrate with free and commercial IDEs
Apache Ant Alternatives & Comparisons
What are some alternatives to Apache Ant?
Eclipse
Standard Eclipse package suited for Java and plug-in development plus adding new plugins; already includes Git, Marketplace Client, source code and developer documentation.
Click here to file a bug against Eclipse Platform.
Gradle
Gradle is a build tool with a focus on build automation and support for multi-language development. If you are building, testing, publishing, and deploying software on any platform, Gradle offers a flexible model that can support the entire development lifecycle from compiling and packaging code to publishing web sites.
Apache Maven
Maven allows a project to build using its project object model (POM) and a set of plugins that are shared by all projects using Maven, providing a uniform build system. Once you familiarize yourself with how one Maven project builds you automatically know how all Maven projects build saving you immense amounts of time when trying to navigate many projects.
Apache Tomcat
Apache Tomcat powers numerous large-scale, mission-critical web applications across a diverse range of industries and organizations.
Jenkins
In a nutshell Jenkins CI is the leading open-source continuous integration server. Built with Java, it provides over 300 plugins to support building and testing virtually any project.
