what a nice comparison of build tools: Make, Rake, Ant, Gradle

http://hyperpolyglot.org/build

Includes a table listing all their features and showing how the others deal with it.

Make allows you to insert a dash between the tab and before the statement in order to ignore that statement's exit code. The other build tools do not have that feature.

InformIT: Software Build Systems: Principles and Experience

InformIT: Software Build Systems: Principles and Experience: 'via Blog this'

Apache Ivy, the home page

Apache Ivy

Gradle – competition for Ant and Maven – the best of two worlds (in German)

Gradle – Konkurrenz für Ant und Maven – Das Beste zweier Welten

Building and Testing with Gradle - O'Reilly Media

Building and Testing with Gradle - O'Reilly Media

Maven: The Definitive Guide - O'Reilly Media

Maven: The Definitive Guide - O'Reilly Media

Ant: The Definitive Guide, Second Edition - O'Reilly Media

Ant: The Definitive Guide, Second Edition - O'Reilly Media

RCS vs. Apache Ant – **/*.java vs. RCS/*.java

Looks like the exclude tag also works well within the javac tag.

I like having at look at Roseanne Zhang's "questions and answers on Apache Ant" now and then.

Links:

• RCS
• Apache Ant

questions and answers on Apache Ant by Roseanne Zhang

questions and answers on Apache Ant (the software tool for automating software build processes) by Roseanne Zhang

apress.com: Raven – Scripting Java Builds with Ruby

APRESS.COM : Raven: Scripting Java Builds with Ruby : 9781590598757

Book Details

• By Matthieu Riou
• ISBN13: 9781590598757
• ISBN10: 159059875x
• 64 pp.
• Pub Date: 2007-06-25
• eBook Price: $13.99

Raven is a Ruby-based build system that leverages Ruby tools (namely Rake and Gems) to help you effectively and easily manage your Java projects, providing a way to handle dependencies and specific tasks for Java. Raven: Scripting Java Builds with Ruby covers the most productive and flexible Java build tool around with the following approach:

• Uses practical examples and concise explanations to show you how to effectively use Raven
• Summarizes best practices and delves into coverage of the more complex scenarios you will inevitably encounter when using Raven
• Empowers you to set up a complete build environment in no time

What you’ll learn

• Why Gems are useful and how to manage your local Gem repository
• How to create your first Rake file, effectively use Ravens command-line features, and manage task dependencies
• How to execute Raven tasks and adhere to best practices by following along with a number of simple yet practical examples
• How to wrap your Java code into your own Gems, allowing you to easily maintain, reuse, and disseminate your code using the Gem packaging system
• How to apply advanced techniques like building your own Gem repository and more

Who is this book for?

Any beginning, intermediate, or advanced Java developer or architect having some interest in using the Ruby language to supplement their skill set. Readers interested in build tools such as Ant and Maven will also find this book appealing.

my new book: Tarek Ziadé: Expert Python Programming

This book is a litte like like Pragmatic Project Automation for the python community. This book isn't really, what I was searching for, but actually it is much, much better. It provides me with a serious level of considering how to make a software project using python a success.

I think, it's a big marketing mistake, to print on the cover and certainly also elsewhere, that this book is targeted towards people with a "sound background in Python programming". I actually think, people with a serious background in computer science (maybe beyond the BSc/BA level) and some knowledge of the specifics of, how python implements the usual more or less "modernistic" (i.e. starting with Simula 67) progamming language features, certainly will gain good profit of enjoying this book. Do yourself a favour and get both, the paper book and the PDF! So maybe you can print one or the other page, and put it on your fellow project managers' desks.

(To be continued ...)

A note to my mates: yes, I got the PDF, and I also got the PDF of the PragProg book.