[PLUG] Java programmers?

[David Fleck]

On Mon, 12 May 2003, Rich Shepard wrote:
> > Applications _can_ consist of hundreds or thousands of classes. They can
> > also be one or two calsses. There's no rule.
>
>   True. But the jar file then becomes quite large, no?

Yes, they certainly can, but they don't have to be - you can make several
smaller jars as well.

> > For managing huge projects, I recommend: ant, IBM Eclipse (free beer),
> > or your favorite Java-enabled IDE (CodeWarrior, etc). They will manage
> > the compilation of the projects, and turn them into jar files at your
> > wish. ant is open source, built by the Apache project, and works wonders
> > (is similar to makefiles, but cleaner).
>
>   So one of these would be a better choice than emacs?

Well, personally I think pulling out my fingernails with pliers would be a
better choice than emacs, but that's just me.  Yes, eclipse/ant/etc will
keep track of class dependancies and handle all the rebuilding/rejarring
and so forth.  Ant seems to be on its way to becoming the de facto
standard make equivalent for Java projects, and eclipse can use Ant for
builds.  Ant has its own idiosyncracies - it helps to have a good
understanding of XML, and personally I find it just as annoying as
makefiles, just in different ways.

--
David Fleck
dcf at aracnet.com