According to a recent survey, Java is the most popular language used in extreme programming (XP) projects, with more than 50% of respondents indicating a need to use Java and XP together. While there are many XP books, few apply XP to Java programming or demonstrate the Java tools that can implement XP techniques.

Extreme Programming Ant covers the application development lifecycle using Ant and other tools to facilitate various stages of a project. The authors discuss techniques and best practices for the build process, version control generating documentation, unit testing and deployment. Throughout the book, they offer advice on extending Ant and incorporating Java custom tasks to better meet the needs of individual projects and developers.