Continuous Delivery in Java

Chapter 5. Building Java Applications

In this chapter, you will learn about how Java applications are built and explore the typical life cycle of a build process. You will also learn about the value of automating the build by using specialized tools (rather than just your IDE’s out-of-the box build tool), the benefits of which allow the easy translation of the build to a continuous integration build server. Finally, you’ll review the good, bad, and ugly of the most popular build tools, with the goal of being able to make the best choice for your next Java project.

Breaking Down the Build Process

Nearly all software has to be built (or at least packaged), and Java applications are no exception. At the most basic level, the Java code you write has to be compiled into Java bytecode before it is executed on the Java Virtual Machine (JVM). However, any Java application of sufficient complexity will require the inclusion of additional external dependencies. This includes the libraries you use so often that you can forget they are third-party code, like SLF4J and Apache Commons Lang. With this in mind, a typical series of build steps for a Java application would look something like this (and the Maven users among you might recognize this):

Validate

Validate that the project is correct and all necessary information is available.

Compile

Compile the source code of the project.

Test

Test the compiled source code by using a suitable unit-testing framework. These tests should not require ...