What I see as really great about Ant is that it provides
a very clean, platform-independent framework for building
platform-independent software.
In addition to the obvious platform independent advantages
of working with java type stuff, it also hides the details of
dealing with file-system stuff, which is usually very platform
specific. Issues such as checking relative time-stamps,
and converting '\' to '/', etc.
Also, it has a very clean target/dependency/task description
frame work, which is nicely extensible and customizable.
But it has some fundamental short-comings. I am formulating
a more formal argument on this, which I will post later.
Some key points:
Ant is already a programming language; it gets interpreted
directly by the virtual machine that is 'org.apache.tools.ant.Main.main'.
It already includes fundamental programming constructs, such
as variable declarations (e.g. <property>), conditional execution
(e.g. <depends>,<if>,<unless>) and sub-routine calls (e.g.
<antcall>,<ant>,<exec>).
Those fundamental programming constructs have fundamental
shortcomings, which severly limit one's ability to construct
simple scripts which can be applied as a library of parameterized
templates for doing a long list of similar tasks.
There are some simple extensions to Ant which would rescue
these short-comings.
The <script> task is at best a hack. It dangerously exposes the
externals of Ant (can access non-standard, non-user-mode
methods, etc.). Its use requires an internal knowledge of Ant. It
requires the installation and independent maintenance and
monitoring of a bunch of other software components (bsf, rhino).
Ant itself IS A SCRIPTING LANGUAGE already. Object-oriented
zealotry can only take one so far.
Jason
----- Original Message -----
From: "David Corbin" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
To: <[email protected]>
Sent: Wednesday, December 27, 2000 9:37 AM
Subject: Re: Fw: Problem using script task
> Jason Rosenberg wrote:
>
> > So, probably, once I get to a point where I've got my preliminary
> > build installation working, I'll make an effort to start writing
> > some useful flow control tasks. I assume that wouldn't be
> > too difficult.
> >
> > Or, are there philosophical objections to doing so. Simple
> > things like loops and conditionals, etc.
> >
> > Jason
> >
>
> I'm hardly and authority, but...
>
> What is that you want to do that you can't do with ant. Please give an
> explicit example. It is my initial reaction that if you're going to
> turn ant into another programming/scripting language, that is the wrong
> path.
>
> --
> David Corbin
> Mach Turtle Technologies, Inc.
> http://www.machturtle.com
> [EMAIL PROTECTED]
