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Ant in Action: Covers Ant 1.7 (Manning) (Paperback)

~ (Author), Erik Hatcher (Author)
Key Phrases: glob mapper, own build file, single build file, Enterprise Java, Average Rate, Apache Cactus (more...)

4.3 out of 5 stars See all reviews (10 customer reviews)

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Editorial Reviews

Product Description

This second edition of a Manning bestseller has been revised and re-titled to fit the 'In Action' Series by Steve Loughran, an Ant project committer. "Ant in Action" introduces Ant and how to use it for test-driven Java application development. Ant itself is moving to v1.7, a major revision, at the end of 2006 so the timing for the book is right. A single application of increasing complexity, followed throughout the book, shows how an application evolves and how to handle the problems of building and testing. Reviewers have praised the book's coverage of large-projects, Ant's advanced features, and the details and depth of the discussion-all unavailable elsewhere.

This is a major revision with the second half of the book completely new, including:
How to Manage Big projects Library management Enterprise Java Continuous integration Deployment Writing new Ant tasks and datatypes

About the Author

Loughran designs and builds production Web Services using Java and Ant. Prior to this, he was a research scientist in Hewlett Packard Laboratories in England.

Erik Hatcher, one of the original Lucene in Action authors, is a committer on the Ant, Lucene, and Tapestry open-source projects, and coauthor of Manning's award-winning Java Development with Ant.

Product Details

Paperback: 566 pages
Publisher: Manning Publications; 2 edition (July 1, 2007)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 193239480X
ISBN-13: 978-1932394801
Product Dimensions: 9.2 x 7.4 x 1.2 inches
Shipping Weight: 2.2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)

Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars See all reviews (10 customer reviews)

Amazon.com Sales Rank: #71,422 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)
Popular in these categories: (What's this?)
#8 in Books > Computers & Internet > Programming > Languages & Tools > Compilers
#78 in Books > Computers & Internet > Programming > Java

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Key Phrases - Statistically Improbable Phrases (SIPs): (learn more)
glob mapper, own build file, single build file, regexp mapper, custom mapper, integrating deployment, own source tree, compile classpath, diary application, own classpath, continuous integration server, ear file, team repository, init target, datatype references, optional tasks, compile target, build failed, build files, jar files, dependency checking, dependency logic, public void execute, nested text, nested condition

Key Phrases - Capitalized Phrases (CAPs): (learn more)
Enterprise Java, Average Rate, Apache Cactus, Apache Ant, Java Web Start, Task Function, Sat Mar, Apache Maven, Software Configuration Management, Builders Schedules Login, Attribute Description Required, Whenever Ant, Every Ant, Unlike Java, Document Object Model, Mon Jul

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	81% buy the item featured on this page: Ant in Action: Covers Ant 1.7 (Manning) 4.3 out of 5 stars (10) $31.49
	8% buy Ant: The Definitive Guide, 2nd Edition 3.9 out of 5 stars (16) $23.07
	7% buy Java Development with Ant 4.5 out of 5 stars (32) $29.67
	2% buy Pro Apache Ant 4.2 out of 5 stars (4) $36.51

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Customer Reviews

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4.3 out of 5 stars (10 customer reviews)

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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

14 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars More than just Ant, August 5, 2007

By	Bas Vodde (Singapore) - See all my reviews

A 500+ page book about a build tool. I guess your initial reaction might be the same as mine. Why would we need so much pages to describe a build tool.

Well, after reading "Ant in Action" I concluded, it doesn't need. The book just described much more than just Ant.

The book consists of three parts. The first part is called "Learning Ant". This is basically the build tool part, which describes the basics of Ant and how to use it. Well actually, in part one it already goes a little further to also include unit testing and already some deployment related information.

The second part is called "Applying Ant" and goes well beyond just describing Ant. Chapter 10 describes working in large projects. Chapter 11 talks about managing dependencies and introduces Ivy. Chapter 15 introduces continuous integration and introduces Luntbuild (not sure why the authors not chose to describe CruiseControl, which is absolutely the most used CI tool). Chapter 16 alone would already be a reason to get the book and it talks about automating deployment and introduces a tool called Smartfrog.

The third parts is called "extending ant" and explains how you can extend ant, develop your own tasks and test them using AntUnit. It describes how ant is implemented so that you know how to extend it (and probably how to develop for it further).

When I started my journey through this book, I was a simple Ant user. The authors showed me that there are so much things possible with Ant and also explored the world around Ant. After finishing the book, I felt I have learned so much and it certainly improved my build scripting abilities. An absolute must read.

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9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The definitive guide to building Java systems, July 14, 2007

By	Bill de Hora "dehora" (Dublin, Ireland) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

Ant in Action is essential reading for anyone who has to set up a Java build, or manage and maintain large projects.

I've been waiting for this to leave the printers for a while - I was lucky enough to read a pre-release copy of Ant in Action, and I can't recommend it highly enough. It carefully walks through the setup for a basic build system, and evolves that to managing large scale projects, explaining as it goes how modern versions of Ant and its features (such as macrodef and import) work to handle larger and larger codebases. It's a hugely detailed, but well written book.

The title doesn't do justice to the material covered. Ant in Action is also a catalog of best practices for building, testing and deploying Java systems - I don't think there's another book in print that provides the kind of information you can find here. Dependency management, source layout, testing, master builds, packaging, deployment, web development - it's all there.

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2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars creating a good build process, March 30, 2008

By	Jeanne Boyarsky (New York, NY) - See all my reviews

"Ant in Action" is really the second edition of "Java Development in Ant." I think the original title was more descriptive as the book focuses more on process, tools and techniques than most Ant books. For example, they introduce continuous integration and why you would want to write unit tests. Not that the Ant coverage isn't good - it's excellent - just that the book is so much more. The book assumes you know Java, but walks you through everything else.

Like most Ant books the authors don't rehash the excellent online manual and API. For those new to Ant, features are clearly described with good examples and good descriptions of "what happens if ____." The flow diagrams helped visualize concepts nicely.

For those who have been using Ant, there are margin notes about what was added in 1.6/1.7 along with coverage of Ivy. I also liked the Java 6/JEE 5 examples. The techniques for writing reusable/maintainable code and extending Ant provided significant value. I was a little disappointed that the JUnit examples used JUnit 3.8. The authors did explain the reasoning and I understand their reason. I still would have liked to see it though as this book will still be used when JUnit 4 is in wider use.

Coverage of related tools is also useful. It's good to know what libraries to look into to increase productivity with Ant. I've been using Ant for complex builds for three years and still had a page of take away points from this book. I recommend it for the valuable information and techniques.

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Most Recent Customer Reviews

2.0 out of 5 stars Ant In Action - A reference book only
Ant in Action" might end up being a good reference book but only after you learn ANT and this book is not the best as far as helping you learn ANT. Read more

Published 4 months ago by George P. Smith

5.0 out of 5 stars Only one you need
As the title says, this is the only ANT book you need.
It is good for beginner to expert.

Published 4 months ago by Steven Koh

5.0 out of 5 stars Everything you wanted to know about Ant and more
At over five hundred pages in eighteen chapters this book is a comprehensive reference on all aspects of Ant, from building scripts to compile, test, package, execute and... Read more

Published 7 months ago by P. Cherryl

4.0 out of 5 stars very usefull reference for web developers as well
I began using Ant as part of my build process for Joomla! (CMS) development to save time on building, debugging, and deploying new Joomla extensions. Read more

Published 12 months ago by Evan Fillman

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent reference so far
Being a general novice with Ant, I needed to get up to speed to amateur/expert level for my new job. Read more

Published 20 months ago by Sean J. Gildea

4.0 out of 5 stars Very thorough update to a classic!
Boy, was this new version that covers version 1.7 needed! Manning's first version was 2003 (Own it, too), and it was really starting to show its age. Read more

Published on October 8, 2007 by Bogus Exception

4.0 out of 5 stars The best and most complete book on Apache Ant
As a build tool, Apache Ant has been in existence for quite a while now and remains the number one Java build scripting tool. Read more

Published on August 16, 2007 by Kevin A. Lee

› See all 10 customer reviews...

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