Apache Ant siteApache Ant logo

the Apache Ant site
Home
Projects
 
   

News


Ant Top Level Project

November 18, 2002

The Apache board created the Apache Ant top level project. Ant has now migrated from the Jakarta project into an Apache project of its own. This is primarily an organizational change and will not affect the technical aspects of the project. Ant retains a strong association with the Apache Jakarta project. One effect of this change is that the Ant webpage is now located at http://ant.apache.org


Ant 1.5.1

October 3, 2002 - Ant 1.5.1 Available !

The final version of Ant 1.5.1 is now available for download. If you have any feedback on this release, feel free to join the discussion on the ant-dev and ant-user mailing lists.


Ant 1.5.1Beta1

August 19, 2002 - Ant 1.5.1 Beta1 Available !

The first beta version of Ant 1.5.1 is now available for download. If you have any feedback on the beta feel free to join the discussion on the ant-dev and ant-user mailing lists.


Ant 1.5

July 15, 2002 - Fix for Cygwin problem in wrapper script available

The wrapper script of Ant 1.5 needs to be replaced with a new version for Cygwin users. See the FAQ for details.

July 10, 2002 - Ant 1.5 Released!

The final version of Ant 1.5 is now available for download. If you have any feedback on this release, feel free to join the discussion on the ant-dev and ant-user mailing lists.


Ant 1.5Beta3

June 24, 2002 - Ant 1.5 Beta3 Available!

The third beta version of Ant 1.5 is now available for download. If you have any feedback on the beta feel free to join the discussion on the ant-dev and ant-user mailing lists.


Ant 1.5Beta2

June 1, 2002 - Ant 1.5 Beta2 Available!

The second beta version of Ant 1.5 is now available for download. If you have any feedback on the beta feel free to join the discussion on the ant-dev and ant-user mailing lists.


Ant 1.5Beta1

Ant 1.5 Beta1 Available !

The first beta version of Ant 1.5 is now available for download. If you have any feedback on the beta feel free to join the discussion on the ant-dev and ant-user mailing lists.


Ant wins again!

Apr 29, 2002: Ant wins Software Development magazine's 2002 Productivity Award.

Ant has been awarded a 2002 Productivity Award by Software Development magazine. Read the press release for more information and the full list of winners.


Ant has won!

Mar 26, 2002: Ant wins the JavaWorld Editors' Choice Award

Ant has won the JavaWorld Editors' Choice Award for Most Useful Java Community-Developed Technology. Read the full article -- or jump directly to the bit about our award :)


Java 1.4 Support

Feb 15, 2002: Java 1.4 Support

Java 1.4 has now been released by Sun. The latest Ant source supports the new assert statement in the compiler task via the source attribute. It also contains a compatibility fix needed for some ant tasks on Java 1.4 over Windows XP. If you have problems running Ant 1.4.1 on WinXP/Java 1.4, please use a recent build or compile your own version from the source tree.


See our new logo!

Have a look at our new cool logo!


Ant 1.4.1

11 October 2001 Ant 1.4.1 released !

Please visit the download area.


Ant 2.0 Requirements Collected - Next is Design

A commented version of the collected user requirements is now available here - it is not complete as some details still have to be defined, but it should give you an idea of what Ant2 is going to look like.

Several details can only be decided in the light of real code and prototypes. Several people are working on prototypes (that can be found in Ant's CVS module in the proposals directory) and discussion is going on on the Ant-Dev mailing list.


Best-Practices Profile of Ant at Sun's Dot-Com Builder

Sun has released an introductory article on Ant on their Dot-Com Builder site on May 30 2001. See http://dcb.sun.com/practices/profiles/ant.jsp


Ant 2.0 Requirements

Ant has been in use for quite some time and has been used in ways never conceived when it was originally written. While Ant 1.x has continued to sucessfully evolve and grow, there are a number of limitations and inconsistencies that are now apparent and which need to be addressed.

As we continue to evolve and enhance Ant 1.x, it is now time to define what Ant 2.0 will encompass. Ant 2.0 will be a major rearchitecting of Ant. It has a number of goals including:

  • Define the "contract" with build file writers to which Ant will be bound.
  • Define the "contract" between the Ant core and Task writers.
  • Make Ant more easily extendable by allowing additional tasks to be "dropped" in.
  • Allow Ant to function as a component to simplify integration with GUIs and IDEs.
  • Make Ant more regular and logical.

It is expected that Ant 2.0 will break Ant 1.x based build files. The intention is to make this the last time that will happen.

To advance the definition of Ant, user requirements are now being accepted on the Ant-Dev mailing list. Any requirement will be accepted for consideration. The requirements are being collected into a document which is available on-line. New features will be excepted until March 21st, 2001. At that time, each requirement will be discussed for inclusion in an Ant 2.0 requirement document.

For your reference some of the goals which have shaped the development of Ant 1.x are available here. These continue to be relevant to Ant 2.0.

If you want to shape the future of Ant, join the Ant-Dev mailing list and contribute your ideas.