jb is a build tool that aims to bring Java build tools to the state-of-the-art as of the 2020’s.

It is fast, easy to use and extensible via a simple Java API.

• Getting Started
• Configuring jb
• Extending jb
• Dependency Management
• Desktop App

Download jb

⬇️ Download from GitHub Releases

Pre-built binaries are available for Windows, Linux and MacOS (x86 and ARM).

Why jb

Java build systems like Ant, Maven and Gradle feel quite antiquated, heavy and difficult to use when compared with more modern alternatives like Cargo.

jb is an attempt at bringing what’s best in contemporary build systems to Java, while respecting the Java way of doing things.

Features

• easy configuration via YAML or JSON.
• very fast (it doesn’t need a daemon).
• distributed as single, small binary (~ 4MB).
• trivial dependency management (you decide how to handle conflicts).
• publish artifacts to any Maven repository.
• supports any Java version from 11 (built to be forward-compatible with newer Java versions).
• tasks run in parallel with full isolation.
• task results are cached, nothing runs unless actually required.
• extensions/plugins written in Java or any JVM language.
• great support for build profiling and introspection.
• runs JUnit5 tests.