diff --git a/proposal/myrmidon/docs/index.html b/proposal/myrmidon/docs/index.html index ba99379b2..6011f40d8 100644 --- a/proposal/myrmidon/docs/index.html +++ b/proposal/myrmidon/docs/index.html @@ -8,10 +8,10 @@
- - + + -+ + What is Ant? + + |
+ ++ |
What is Myrmidon? @@ -77,28 +101,60 @@ |
-+ |
+ + A Rose by any other name ... + + |
+ + |
Ant is a cross-platform build tool that features ease of + use and extensibility as it's primary goal.
-- Myrmidon is one of the Ant 2 proposals currently in development. You can - read more about the goals of Ant 2 +
Why another build tool when there is already make, gnumake, + nmake, jam, and others? Make-like tools are inherently shell-based; + they execute native commands and shell scripts to perform the work + associated with the build process. So to extend the the tool by + writing a program or script executable by the OS you are on. This + makes it difficult to achieve portability between platforms.
- here. +Ant is a different beast. Instead of using OS-specific commands + to extend the build process, you leverage the cross-platform features + of Java to write "tasks". This makes it much easier to achieve + a portal build process between platforms. Ant also differs in that it uses + XML to describe the build process.
- +
- Myrmidon is a general-purpose
- task engine. It contains the basic
- building blocks for assembling any sort of task-based tool. Ant 2
- is an example of such a tool, which could be assembled using the Myrmidon task
- engine, and a library of build related tasks.
+ Myrmidon is a proposal for Ant 2. Ant2 is the next evolution of the
+ Ant build tool aimed at removing many of the limitations of the Ant1.x
+ product. In particular it aims to; You can read more about the goals of Ant 2
+ here.
- Currently, Myrmidon is a prototype of what a task engine might look. It
- includes a small set of tasks and data types. We are currently porting
- many of the Ant 1.x tasks to the Myrmidon task engine.
+ Myrmidon was specifically designed as both a tool and as
+ an API library that can be reused in other products. It contains the
+ basic building blocks for assembling any sort of task-based tool. Ant 2
+ is an example of such a tool, which could be assembled using the Myrmidon
+ task container, and a library of build related tasks.
+ The name Myrmidon is a derivation of a mythological name for some ants that were turned
+ into soldiers by the god Zeus. It came to mean "a subordinate who executes orders
+ unquestioningly" which seemed suitable for a task execution/build tool. A more complete
+ description stolen from
+
+ http://bondi-blue.parlez.com/previous_words/myrmidon.txt.
+
+
+
+ The appellation Myrmidon was derived from the Greek word "myrmex",
+ meaning ant. According to Greek mythology, the Myrmidons were
+ transformed into humans by the god Zeus as an act of kindness to his
+ son Aeacus. King Aeacus, captivated by a colony of ants, prayed
+ that he should receive an increase in population equal to the
+ number of ants before him. When he awoke the next day, the ants
+ were his human subjects. Thereafter, they were known as the
+ Myrmidons. See "The Iliad" for Homers' account of the Myrmidons
+ during the Trojan War.
+