Quite some time ago, I asked the same question. At that time, there was one attempt at support for Java. I personally could not get it to work. Right now, I know of no solutions for using Jam with Java.

Java presents quite a different picture than C/C++ development (in many ways, it is better). But these differences prove to be quite a challenge when using development aids developed for older technologies. Here are some big issues that are difficult to address with Jam: Java dependencies, a compiler that drops output into a directory tree (not just one level), package libraries that are hierarchical (i.e., jar files), and a compiler that does some of its own dependency checking and recompilation.

These issues can be addressed within Jam, but they require real work. It's not just a tweak of the Jambase. It requires development of new external tools (like a Java source to dependency program), and possibly modifications to Jam itself to describe hierarchical output. There are simpler ways of getting the job done, but they all tend to lead down the path of over compilation (i.e., just compile all the files in this directory every time).

Personally, I have opted to use an IDE to do Java development and then distribute the results across platforms. Although you may hear a lot of grumblings about binary portability of Java, I find distributing class files to be remarkably portable. Sometimes UI issues do raise their heads, but workarounds are fairly simple and work is proceeding to remove those blemishes.

David Harrison (ds...@magma-da.com)

Andrea Adams wrote: