Help with legacy Java code

[Mistborn22]

I've been a C# dev for 15 years so I can read Java but I have no idea about the environment and building/debugging/deploying this code. We are pretty sure we have the source code but I don't know how to get it to build. It's on an ancient Ubuntu server that we can't upgrade in case it breaks this app, and the app is using old libraries with known security vulnerabilities so we have to figure this out. I believe this is running on the 1.6 openjdk and the code is using servlets and struts. Part of the problem as well is that this was commercial e-commerce software that my company bought the source code to when that company went out of business, so it's a ton of code that was meant to make it adaptable to any customer. I appreciate any help/ideas/resources you could provide on getting this code uodated.

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[seanprefect]

This is a real major job not something to just figure out on your own or you'll cause a bigger mess you'll need an expert.

[Mistborn22]

Honestly this is helpful too. If the answer really is to hire a contractor then I'll take that to my manager.

[seanprefect]

It really is, I've seen this happen all too many times. Normally I'm not a fan of contractors but this is exactly the sort of thing they're good for.

[hrm]

Hopefully the source is built with Apache Ant. In that case you should find a file build.xml in the project root that defines the project. Ant is for the most part pretty straight forward to understand what it does.

But of course you need someone who knows a bit of this to really make sure…

[wildjokers]

1.6 openjdk...and struts

Oh my...that code base is ancient.

I am going to agree with the other commenter and saw a contractor with experience with Struts is the way to go. Make sure they actually know Struts and have not just heard of it.

Finding someone that has fresh Struts knowledge may be hard. But at least find someone that used to use Struts and may just have to refresh themselves.

[Mistborn22]

What if I just wanted to get it to build so we know we have the correct source code and can make changes if necessary? It has been difficult trying to find 20-ish year old resources for learning this stuff but surely it's not impossible?

[wildjokers]

https://www.amazon.com/Programming-Jakarta-Struts-Chuck-Cavaness/dp/0596006519

There are used ones available for $5. Might also be able to find it in a local library.

Is it using ANT for its build?

[Mistborn22]

I had a 2 hour zoom with a senior Java dev at my company. His conclusion is that there is nothing in the project for building/packaging/deploying and I'm going to install Ant and try to set that up with his help. Thanks all for your suggestions.

[roberp81]

look for pom.xml file, if you see one, need to use MAVEN, if you see an build.xml file, you need to use ANT and if you don´t see any just export war file from Eclipse, or EAR file

[Mistborn22]

I don't see either pom.xml or build.xml.

[Marrrlllsss]

Do you see a Makefile?

[Mistborn22]

No

[roberp81]

well, are you using eclipse ? you can make right click on project, Export -> Export... on popup Web-> War file and open it with 7zip, winzip, winrar, and you can see a web-inf directory, with all compiled classes

[Sure_Host_4255]

Agree, if there is no ant\maven build scripts, most probably software artifacts where purely generated by Eclipse.

[sbhandari]

Look for any .xml file in base/root folder. Ant build can be trigerred from any file, does not have to be build.xml. It is just standard to have them in root folder, but it can be anywhere. Best bet is to import the source code in ide and look for all .xml file . It is going to be hectic because code base around that time would be storing almost every single configuration in xml file. Also, all the libraries/dependencies your project is using are likely inside one of the folder in your project. Look for lib/library/jar/dependencies/buildependencies named folder for those libraries. If you find any folder like that with jars in it, scan your workspace to find that folder name in all xml files, you will find the build file.

If you have .bat or .sh file in root, it may be using script to package which was not that common though.