Which build tools should we support (was: Ant vs. Maven vs. Gradle)

[Yennick Trevels <ye...@gmail.com>]

I'm splitting up the previous thread because there was imo too much
confusion between which build tool to use for the Flex SDK and which build
tools we should support (aka create artifacts for). These are two totally
different discussions.

This thread can be used to discuss which build tools we should support.
E.g. for Maven we should create Flex SDK artifacts that will be deployed on
a repository, for Ant we should maintain the ant scripts which people use
to build their project, etc.

Re: Which build tools should we support (was: Ant vs. Maven vs. Gradle)

[Omar Gonzalez <om...@gmail.com>]

On Tue, Feb 28, 2012 at 8:47 AM, Maciek Sakrejda <m....@gmail.com>wrote:

> It would be
> nice to offer support for multiple build tools here so we don't
> dictate what type of build system our users need to use (especially
> nice when your users are building a back-end with their scripts as
> well, and that may have different requirements).
>

There is no valid reason I can think of that would prevent us from
accepting any code donations or examples of how to perform builds for
different tasks, both building the SDK and building projects that use the
SDK. The important part is that the output of these build systems is
identical to what is needed for the task at hand.

That said, I would encourage anyone that is trying to set up a build
process in any technology to write the code, or gather help to write the
code, and then submit it via JIRA so we can then proceed with those real
examples and do something with them. As long as we can keep things
organized, updated, and with clear instructions on the Wiki/website we
should be able to have ANT, Maven, Gradle, and whatever other instructions
to making builds so long as they produce what needs to be produced. At
least that's how I think we should approach it. We don't need ANT vs. Maven
vs. Gradle threads, we need ANT, Maven and Gradle contributions, such as
those Justin Mclean has been doing to improve the ANT build scripts. Some
people will need ANT, others will need Maven, and some will need Gradle for
a wide variety of reasons. Let's embrace them all (so long as their
licenses are compatible but that's a different thread :P).

--
Omar Gonzalez
s9tpepper@apache.org
Apache Flex PPMC Member

Re: Which build tools should we support (was: Ant vs. Maven vs. Gradle)

[sumit arora <er...@gmail.com>]

Hi Bryan,

I agree with you that we should have the build tool.
Configuring flex-mojos is a pain and If you havn't done that already it can
take a day or two to do so successfully.

But we should keep in mind the flex integration with other languages as we
rarely build any flex project as standalone.
Flex and Java mostly.

Regards,
Sumit Arora

On Sat, Mar 10, 2012 at 8:55 PM, Bryan Hunt <se...@gmail.com>wrote:

> On Tue, 28 Feb 2012 08:47:51 -0800, Maciek Sakrejda <m....@gmail.com>
> wrote:
> > > You still seem to be confused.
> > >
> > > Why would one chose to support two build systems - when ANT, is to all
> > > intents and purposes a subset of Maven's functionality; minus
> dependency
> > > management and a standardized configuration?
> >
> > No, Yennick has a good point. There's the internal build tools and
> > scripts (which will be used to build the compiler and the SDK
> > libraries), and the external build tools which users of the Apache
> > Flex framework will use to build *their* code which links against the
> > framework (e.g., the current mxmlc/compc/asdoc ant tasks--although the
> > asdoc task is so bad, I have not seen a single project use it
> > directly, instead calling out to the jar or command line). It would be
> > nice to offer support for multiple build tools here so we don't
> > dictate what type of build system our users need to use (especially
> > nice when your users are building a back-end with their scripts as
> > well, and that may have different requirements).
>
> Ok,
>
> For the record, and my own sanity, I'm going to clarify, just once.
>
> I was talking about the tool used to perform repeatable builds of the
> Flex SDK.
>
> Every single, Java base Apache project, uses Maven as it's build tool.
>
> I am NOT, repeat, NOT, advocating that every developer using the Flex
> SDK be obligated to use Maven as his build tool.
>
> Flex-mojos, is quite frankly a pain in the arse to use. I use it, only
> because I like to resurect projects every couple of months or so -
> because I'm one of those philistines, who gets paid to write software.
>
> The replies to this thread are so willfully obtuse, I started to wonder
> about two weeks ago if I were being trolled. Now I am certain of that
> fact.
>
> Kindest, loving regards,
>
> Bryan Hunt
>
>
>
>
>


-- 
Sumit Arora
(Nothing is impossible it is only impossible untill you or someone else
finds the appropriate solution to it.
The only way to discover the limits of possible is to go beyond them into
the impossible.)

Re: Which build tools should we support (was: Ant vs. Maven vs. Gradle)

[Bryan Hunt <se...@gmail.com>]

On Tue, 28 Feb 2012 08:47:51 -0800, Maciek Sakrejda <m....@gmail.com> wrote:
> > You still seem to be confused.
> >
> > Why would one chose to support two build systems - when ANT, is to all
> > intents and purposes a subset of Maven's functionality; minus dependency
> > management and a standardized configuration?
> 
> No, Yennick has a good point. There's the internal build tools and
> scripts (which will be used to build the compiler and the SDK
> libraries), and the external build tools which users of the Apache
> Flex framework will use to build *their* code which links against the
> framework (e.g., the current mxmlc/compc/asdoc ant tasks--although the
> asdoc task is so bad, I have not seen a single project use it
> directly, instead calling out to the jar or command line). It would be
> nice to offer support for multiple build tools here so we don't
> dictate what type of build system our users need to use (especially
> nice when your users are building a back-end with their scripts as
> well, and that may have different requirements).

Ok,

For the record, and my own sanity, I'm going to clarify, just once. 

I was talking about the tool used to perform repeatable builds of the
Flex SDK.

Every single, Java base Apache project, uses Maven as it's build tool.

I am NOT, repeat, NOT, advocating that every developer using the Flex
SDK be obligated to use Maven as his build tool. 

Flex-mojos, is quite frankly a pain in the arse to use. I use it, only
because I like to resurect projects every couple of months or so -
because I'm one of those philistines, who gets paid to write software.

The replies to this thread are so willfully obtuse, I started to wonder
about two weeks ago if I were being trolled. Now I am certain of that
fact.

Kindest, loving regards,

Bryan Hunt

Re: Which build tools should we support (was: Ant vs. Maven vs. Gradle)

[Maciek Sakrejda <m....@gmail.com>]

> You still seem to be confused.
>
> Why would one chose to support two build systems - when ANT, is to all
> intents and purposes a subset of Maven's functionality; minus dependency
> management and a standardized configuration?

No, Yennick has a good point. There's the internal build tools and
scripts (which will be used to build the compiler and the SDK
libraries), and the external build tools which users of the Apache
Flex framework will use to build *their* code which links against the
framework (e.g., the current mxmlc/compc/asdoc ant tasks--although the
asdoc task is so bad, I have not seen a single project use it
directly, instead calling out to the jar or command line). It would be
nice to offer support for multiple build tools here so we don't
dictate what type of build system our users need to use (especially
nice when your users are building a back-end with their scripts as
well, and that may have different requirements).

Re: Which build tools should we support (was: Ant vs. Maven vs. Gradle)

[Bryan Hunt <se...@gmail.com>]

On Tue, 28 Feb 2012 12:07:10 +0100, Yennick Trevels <ye...@gmail.com> wrote:
Non-text part: multipart/alternative
> I'm splitting up the previous thread because there was imo too much
> confusion between which build tool to use for the Flex SDK and which build
> tools we should support (aka create artifacts for). These are two totally
> different discussions.
> 
> This thread can be used to discuss which build tools we should support.
> E.g. for Maven we should create Flex SDK artifacts that will be deployed on
> a repository, for Ant we should maintain the ant scripts which people use
> to build their project, etc.

You still seem to be confused.

Why would one chose to support two build systems - when ANT, is to all
intents and purposes a subset of Maven's functionality; minus dependency
management and a standardized configuration?

Especially if you are generating artifacts in Maven, why would you then
use a seperate build system to access them? What do you gain?

Have you used Ant and Maven before?

Regards,

Bryan Hunt