title: Looking for Makefile and Build System solutions for Java
body: <p>I am trying to veer away from writing most of my Java code in Eclipse and I'm coming up with small projects for myself to work on in order to a. become a better Java programmer and b. learn how to organize my applications (in both terms of code and directory structure).</p>
  
  <p>I noticed that I make plenty of small, incremental changes to classes then to recompile and run my whole application. I'm slightly familiar with Makefiles from a course I took in C++, and I'm less familiar with Build Systems (Maven, Ant). Regarding this mater, here are a few things I'd appreciate help with:</p>
  
  <ul>
  <li>First of all, is there a way that I can write a little file that separates where my <code>.class</code> files are saved during <code>javac *.java</code>?
  <ul>
  <li>Say I want to put all my <code>.class</code> files in a <code>/bin</code> folder</li>
  </ul></li>
  <li><p>In that file, is there a command I can write to simplify the <code>javac *.java</code> and <code>java [class name here...]</code> process? </p>
  
  <ul>
  <li>I know that this process is relatively simple already, but what I want to know is can I write something that will allow me to run commands along the lines of <code>myExec build</code> (compile and save all my java files) <code>myExec run</code> (run my application)</li>
  </ul></li>
  <li><p>Finally, is there a simple Build System that I can/should learn to use that will allow me to accomplish this? Or am I confusing the point of  a Build System.</p></li>
  </ul>