views:

29

answers:

3

Frustrated in finding the .jar -balls like google collections or "package org.apache.commons.io;". Is there some utility to get them fast like the style-"apt-get source app"? "get-java-jar-ball-3rd source apache commons"?

+1  A: 

Yes, there is. Use maven as a build system for your Java projects and you're set.

Additionally, if you a decent IDE like Netbeans then it is just a matter of couple of clicks to search and add a dependency on some external Java library. Then, as a part of build maven downloads all necessary libs required by your project.

pajton
A: 

It sounds like what you need is Maven. It handles library dependencies, uploads them from central repository and use in build. There is Maven plug-in for Eclipse as well.

Jakub
I use and like Maven, but it has strong ideas about how your project should be organised. Beware!
John
+2  A: 

99% of the time you don't need the source. Pajton's advice isn't bad: maven can handle these dependencies for you. If you're using ant, Ivy is the natural choice. Otherwise, yes, you can get e.g. log4j using apt-get install liblog4j1.2-java

Tomislav Nakic-Alfirevic