Java Power Tools

All true craftsmen need the best tools to do their finest work, and programmers are no different. Java Power Tools delivers 30 open source tools designed to improve the development practices of Java developers in any size team or organization. Each chapter includes a series of short articles about one particular tool -- whether it's for build systems, version control, or other aspects of the development process - giving you the equivalent of 30 short reference books in one package.

No matter which development method your team chooses, whether it's Agile, RUP, XP, SCRUM, or one of many others available, Java Power Tools provides practical techniques and tools to help you optimize the process. The book discusses key Java development problem areas and best practices, and focuses on open source tools that can help increase productivity in each area of the development cycle, including:

• Build tools including Ant and Maven 2
• Version control tools such as CVS and Subversion, the two most prominent open source tools
• Quality metrics tools that measure different aspects of code quality, including CheckStyle, PMD, FindBugs and Crap4j
• Technical documentation tools that can help you generate good technical documentation without spending too much effort writing and maintaining it
• Unit Testing tools including JUnit 4, TestNG, Easyb, and the open source coverage tool Cobertura
• Integration, Load and Performance Testing to integrate performance tests into unit tests, load-test your application, and automatically test web services, Swing interfaces and web interfaces
• Continuous Integration tools such as Continuum, Cruise Control, LuntBuild and Hudson

If you are a Java developer, these tools can help improve your development practices, and make your life easier in the process. Lead developers, software architects and people interested in the wider picture will be able to gather from these pages some useful ideas about improving your project infrastructure and best practices.

Table of Contents

• Foreword by Andrew Glover (President, Stelligent Incorporated)
• Preface
• Introduction

Part I. Build tools

• Setting up a project using Ant
• Setting up a project using Maven 2

Part II. Version control tools

• Setting up version control using CVS
• Setting up version control using Subversion

Part III. Continuous Integration

• Setting up a continuous integration server with Continuum
• Setting up a Continuous Integration server with CruiseControl
• LuntBuild - a web-based Continuous Integration server
• Continuous Integration with Hudson
• Setting up an Instant Messaging platform with Openfire

Part IV. Unit Testing

• Testing your code with JUnit
• Next-Generation Testing with TestNG
• Maximizing test coverage with Cobertura

Part V. Integration, Functional, Load and Performance Testing

• Testing a Struts application with StrutsTestCase
• Integration testing databases with DbUnit
• Performance testing with JUnitPerf
• Load and Performance Testing with JMeter
• Testing Web Services with SoapUI
• Profiling and monitoring Java applications using the Sun JDK tools
• Profiling Java applications in Eclipse
• Testing your user interfaces
  • Testing your web application with Selenium
  • Testing Swing GUIs with FEST

Part VI. Quality metrics tools

• Detecting and Enforcing Coding Standards with Checkstyle
• Preemptive error detection with PMD
• Preemptive error detection with FindBugs
• Inspecting the results – semi-automated code reviews with Jupiter
• Sharpen Your Focus with Mylyn
• Monitoring build statistics (QALab, StatSCM and StatSVN)

Part VII. Issue Management tools

• Bugzilla
• Trac - light-weight project management

Part VIII. Technical documentation tools

• Team communication with the Maven 2 project web site
• Automatically generating technical documentation (SchemaSpy, DOxygen and UmlGraph)

Code samples

Most of the code samples used in Java Power Tools are available here. Some of the code samples are currently being revised and updated, and will be available soon.

Download the code samples here

Book Reviews

"The book is enjoyable, extremely well organized and covers a wide range of open source tools needed for any successful software development life cycle. I would recommend Java Power Tools to anyone writing Java."
-- Javalobby

"The Handiest Java Book in Years...All told, 856 pages of crisp, well-written explanations. A must-have reference for the bookshelf."
-- Andrew Binstock

"If you are on a Java development project, you must have this book! I'm still amazed by the breadth and depth of the information in it...If you'd rather be spending time creating software rather than trying to bend your process or tools to meet your needs, this is the book for you."
-- Paul Duvall (author, "Continuous Integration")

"Even though the book is heavy, and has 910 pages, I carry it everyday to work. It is a great reference book for all the tools as well. If you are writing software using Java, you should without a doubt get this book."
-- Meera Subbarao

Training

Wakaleo Consulting also provides both inhouse and public training based on the tools and techniques described in Java Power Tools. The Java Power Tools bootcamp is an intense 4-day hands-on workshop covering some of the best open source tools for Java development on the market. The course takes you on a in-depth guided tour of some of the best open source Java tools, showing how you can use them individually and together to write code better and faster