What are some good java make utilities?

Question

I\'m looking for a make utility for building large java programs. I\'m aware of ANT already, but want to see what else is available.

Ideally, it should be able to handle

Answer 1

Forget ANT!!

Apache Maven is the way to go if you ask me.

The feature i like the most is it built in in dependency management. This means you dont have to check 3rd party JARs into your source control project.

You specify your dependencies in the maven POM (Project Object Model - Its basically an XML description of your project) and maven automatically downloads, compiles against them and packages them with your app.

Other really nice features are: Release management and distribution publication - Perform releases using maven console commands. This feature will tag your code base in source control. Checkout a clean copy, build it & package it for deployment. A second command will upload it to your repository for distribution to other end users.

A large and growing repository of libraries already using maven - EVERY Apache project uses maven. LOADS more are on board also. See for yourself, here's the main repo

Ability to host your own repo. - Where you can release your own builds and also upload JARs that dont exist in other public repos (like most SUN jars)