Ant Developer’s Handbook

Standard Build Targets

Just as it’s advantageous to agree on a standard development environment, properties naming convention, and some common property names, it’s also advantageous to define a number of standard targets. Each target should execute a set of tasks required to carry out a logical unit of work. For example, the compile task should create its target subdirectory, compile the source, and then move property files and all other resources so that the application is ready to be tested or executed. Let’s define some standard targets. Examples of these targets will be provided as we develop the set of scripts needed to build ChatRoom.

The init Target

As you’ve seen, a property task can exist as a top-level XML attribute. Therefore, it’s ...