ANT Interview Questions and Answers
Freshers / Beginner level questions & answers
Ques 1. What is ANT?
ANT full form is Another Needed Tool. Ant is a build tool that is java based. A build tool performs the following tasks:
Compiling java code into byte code
Placing this byte code in a package
Deployment to production systems
Document creation and release notes preparation.
Ques 2. Explain ANT functionality.
Ant is an open source project available under the Apache license. Therefore, its source code can be downloaded and modified.
Use of XML along with Java makes Ant makes it the perfect solution for developing programs designed to run or be built across a range of different operating systems.
Extensible.
New tasks are used to extend the capabilities of the build process, while build listeners are used to help hook into the build process to add extra error tracking functionality.
As Ant is extensible and open, it can be integrated with any editor or development environment easily.
Ques 3. Explain using ANT and give an small example.
Before start using ANT, we should be clear about the project name and the .java files and most importantly, the path where the .class files are to be placed.
For example, we want the application HelloWorld to be used with ant. The Java source files are in a subdirectory called Dirhelloworld, and the .class files are to put into a sub directory called Helloworldclassfiles.
1. The build file by name build.xml is to be written. The script is as follows
2. Now run the ant script to perform the compilation:
C :\> ant
Buildfile: build.xml
and see the results in the extra files and directory created:
c:\>dir Dirhelloworld
c:\>dir Helloworldclassfiles
All the .java files are in Dirhelloworld directory and all the corresponding .class are in Helloworldclassfiles directory.
Note: mkdir command is to be used in MS-DOS and mk dir command is to be used in UNIX/Linux
Dir command is to be used in MS-DOS and ls command is to be used in UNIX /Linux
Ques 4. How to set Classpath in Ant script?
The following is the code snippet to set the classpath in ant:
<path id=”build.classpath”>
<fileset dir=”${build.lib}” includes=”**/*.jar/>
<fileset dir=”${build.class”}/>
</path>
<target….>
<javac….>
<classpath field=”build.classpath”/>
</javac>
</target>
<target….>
<javac….>
<classpath field=”build.classpath”/>
</javac>
</target>
Ques 5. Explain how to compile using Ant script?
<target name="compile" depends="-init">
<mkdir dir="${build.dir}/classes" />
<javac destdir="${build.dir}/classes" includeantruntime="false" debug="true" optimize="true" verbose="false" deprecation="false" source="1.5" target="1.5">
<classpath refid="classpath.base" />
<src path="${src.dir}/main/java" />
</javac>
</target>
Ques 6. Explain how to test classes for JUnit using Ant script?
<target name="test" depends="-copytestresources, compile">
<mkdir dir="${build.dir}/junit-reports" />
<junit printsummary="false"
fork="on"
haltonfailure="false"
failureproperty="test.failure">
<classpath refid="classpath.junit" />
<formatter type="plain" />
<batchtest todir="${build.dir}/junit-reports">
<fileset dir="${build.dir}/test-classes" includes="**/*Test.class" />
</batchtest>
</junit>
<junitreport tofile="target/junit-reports/TEST.xml">
<fileset dir="${target}/junit-reports" includes="TEST-*.xml" />
<report format="frames" todir="${target}/junit-reports" />
</junitreport>
</target>
Intermediate / 1 to 5 years experienced level questions & answers
Ques 7. How to set property file in Ant script?
<!-- Import properties from build.properties -->
<property name="build.properties" value="${basedir}/conf/build.properties" />
<fail message="Missing build.properties file: please use -Dbuild.properties=/path/to/file">
<condition>
<not>
<available file="${build.properties}" type="file" />
</not>
</condition>
</fail>
<property file="${build.properties}" />
Ques 8. Explain how to import .jar files?
<path id="classpath.base">
<pathelement location="${glassfish.home}/lib/javaee.jar" />
<fileset dir="${lib.dir}">
<include name="log4j-1.2.15.jar" />
<include name="el-impl-1.0.jar" />
</fileset>
</path>
Ques 9. Explain how to use clean in Ant script?
<target name="clean" depends="-clean" />
<target name="-clean">
<delete dir="${build.dir}/*" />
<delete dir="${build.dir}/classes" />
<delete dir="${build.dir}/test-classes" />
<delete dir="${build.dir}/release" />
<delete file="${build.dir}/*.jar" />
<delete file="${build.dir}/VERSION.txt" />
</target>
Experienced / Expert level questions & answers
Ques 10. Explain how to use PMD validation in Ant script?
<target name="validate" depends="-init">
<mkdir dir="${build.dir}/pmd-reports" />
<pmd shortFilenames="true" rulesetfiles="${basedir}/.ruleset">
<formatter type="xml" tofile="${build.dir}/pmd-reports/report.xml" />
<fileset dir="${src.dir}/main/java/com/" includes="**/*.java" />
<fileset dir="${src.dir}/test/java" includes="**/*.java" />
</pmd>
<xslt style="${ant.home}/etc/xslt/pmd-report-per-class.xslt"
in="${build.dir}/pmd-reports/report.xml"
out="${build.dir}/pmd-reports/report.html" />
</target>
Most helpful rated by users:
- What is ANT?
- Explain ANT functionality.
- Explain using ANT and give an small example.
- How to set Classpath in Ant script?
- How to set property file in Ant script?