Jelly or executable XML
Jelly is a tool for turning XML into executable code. So Jelly is a Java and XML based scripting and processing engine. Jelly can be used as a more flexible and powerful front end to Ant such as in the Maven project, as a testing framework such as JellyUnit, in an intergration or workflow system such as werkflow or as a page templating system inside engines like Cocoon.
Sounds real cool.
I need to play with this.
Jelly has a weblog.
Maven which uses Jelly is also a cool tool. It is one level of abstraction above ant.
In my team we used ant on our projects and after a while one of us standardized the project structure and ant targets so that we could run a set of standard ant targets with standard ant files.
Maven just does that in a more formalized way and I think this is an excellent initiative from the Jakarta project.
Maven formalizes the project structure and if you follow this structure, it makes your life really easier by automating lots of aspects of the development process.
Maven is a Java project management and project comprehension tool. Maven is based on the concept of a project object model (POM) in that all the artifacts produced by Maven are a result of consulting a well defined model for your project. Builds, documentation, source metrics, and source cross-references are all controlled by your POM. Look here to see the full list of Maven's features.
Maven has many goals, but in a nutshell Maven aims to make the developer's life easier by providing a well defined project structure, well defined development processes to follow, and a coherent body of documentation that keeps your developers and clients apprised of what's happening with your project. Maven alleviates a lot of what most developers consider drudgery and lets them get on with the task at hand. This is essential in OSS projects where there aren't many people dedicated to the task of documenting and propagating the critical information about your project which is necessary in order to attract potential new developers and clients.
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