Java Power Tools

Preface

Here is Edward Bear^[1] coming downstairs now, bump, bump, bump, on the back of his head, behind Christopher Robin. It is, as far as he knows, the only way of coming downstairs, but sometimes he feels that there really is another way, if only he could stop bumping for a moment and think of it.

—“We are introduced to Winnie-the-Pooh and some bees, and the stories begin,” Winnie the Pooh, A. A. Milne

Thus does A. A. Milne introduce that classic character of children’s literature, Winnie the Pooh. As you can see, Winnie the Pooh seems to have some issues with the way he goes downstairs (we probably wouldn’t be too far off if we were to speak of “pain points”).

Software development sometimes feels like this. It is easy to get so bogged down in the details, under the pressure of tight deadlines and changing requirements, that you forget that there might just be a better way. A high number of bugs, a difficult integration process, long and painful builds, and poor project visibility become an accepted part of the developer’s life.

The good news is that there are in fact many easy ways to improve your software development lifecycle.

A judicious use of tools can go a long way in boosting developer productivity. For example, many distributed development teams use nothing more sophisticated than a CVS or Subversion repository for storing application code and a mailing list for discussion. Imagine a system in which, whenever someone commits a change, issues are automatically closed or updated ...