I am looking for Java-based Less CSS compilers. On Github, I have stumbled across
Both are from the same developer. Unfortunately I cannot quite figure out the difference between them.
Can somebody tell me? Which other compilers do you know?
LESS Engine wraps the javascript compiler in a straight-forward Java interface.
I haven't used lesscss-java, so I can't comment on relative quality, but in the small tasks I've needed, I've had no complaints with Less Engine.
The Official LESS CSS Compiler for Java is pretty nice, too. It's in Maven Central, is thread safe (so performance is pretty good), and it's got an easy to use interface.
JLessC is an alternative less compiler. It is pure Java and does not use any JavaScript engine. The main target is use together with Bootstrap. It is very fast.
lesscss4j is a Java compiler, written with ANTLR. While this will be faster, the problem is that you need to synchronise it with the official lesscss compiler which is in javascript. This project hasn't been touched for 2 years. Lesscss-java is a wrapper around the official compiler and is running in Rhino JS engine. It used by the popular Lesscss-maven-plugin.
LessCSS Compiler - compatible with version 1.7.5. The library is based on the official Less JavaScript compiler adapted to the Rhino engine. Restrictions: cannot fetch sources from Internet, e.g. @import (less) "http://example.org/style.less"
Extended LessCSS Compiler - extended version of the LessCSS Compiler. Adds features such as:
classpath://)If you are working with atlassian plugins and in addition to the already mentioned lesscss-maven-plugin you might also have a look at a (non-open-sourced) derivate from atlassian repository https://maven.atlassian.com/content/repositories/atlassian-public
com.atlassian.lesscss lesscss-maven-plugin