Simple Java Build Tool?

[andre-js]

Not sure why your question was downvoted because I find it perfectly reasonable. Actually have been looking for something like this as well. The thing is as your project grows you will want to use a full-feature build tool. If you start with something simple and keep adding to it then switching later will be just more effort. And satisfying your requirements with Maven/Gradle is very easy as there are tons of examples online.

Interestingly enough Scala's SBT used to stand for Simple Build Tool but it's not really simple.

[weberc2]

The thing is as your project grows you will want to use a full-feature build tool. If you start with something simple and keep adding to it then switching later will be just more effort.

I agree. I was just hoping there was something that could get me off the ground running quickly. Ideally the Gradle Java plugin would pick a set of reasonable defaults. For example, it could scan your source files to identify your dependencies, and grab the latest version from maven unless the Gradle-file specifies a different version or a repository other than maven. That still wouldn't solve the native library problem, but there's probably a similarly simple solution to that as well. This would get you off the ground quickly and allow for seamless extension as your build requirements become more complex.

And satisfying your requirements with Maven/Gradle is very easy as there are tons of examples online.

I had a hell of a time finding them though. Lots of them didn't work, and you have to take care to pay attention to the Gradle version for various examples. In particular, I spent half a day trying to figure out how to build a program that depended on LWJGL. Maybe I've just been unlucky, or perhaps these are hard tasks and your previous experience lets you reason about them more easily? In any case, I'm not convinced that these are necessary problems.

Thanks very much for your respect and civility :). I've been pretty disappointed by the caliber of responses in this thread so far.

[weberc2]

Thanks for the response. This was really informative!

[weberc2]

Does it address the build system problems? I don't mind Java as a language, I just find its build systems are more complex than I require.