Java Reference
In-Depth Information
Additional command line parameters
lets you enter arguments to be
passed to the compiler via the command line (refer to your compiler's doc-
umentation for valid options).
■
The Javac compiler has these additional options:
Use generics-enabled compiler
enables the use of
generics
, if supported by
your compiler.
J2SE
5.0
supports the use of generics (also known as
parame-
terized types
).
■
Maximum heap size
controls the size of the heap available to the Java pro-
cess that launches the compiler. If you're compiling a particularly large or
complex project, you may get out-of-memory errors and be required to
increase the amount of memory allocated to the compiler.
■
Compiling your application in the background so you can keep working
Both the Javac and Jikes compilers offer you the option of building in the back-
ground. This goes for building the entire project as well as a single file. Unless
this option is enabled, the compiler displays a modal dialog when active, tracking
the progress of the compilation as shown in figure 5.3. This dialog gives you a
constantly updating status report, but you can't do anything else while compiling.
Click the
Background
button to push the build into the background and regain
control. This has the same effect as enabling the
Compile in background
option
from the
Compiler
settings panel. (Of course, compilation is a fairly intensive
operation, so on many machines you won't be able to do anything else anyway.)
Deleting all the files from the output directory
If you enable the
Clear output directory on rebuild
option in the
Compiler
dia-
log,
IDEA
automatically deletes all the files in your output folder when you
rebuild. Using this option isn't necessary to ensure a clean rebuild—
IDEA
's
dependency tracking should handle that—but it ensures that unused or renamed
classes that may cause problems aren't left behind.
Figure 5.3
The Compile Progress dialog
keeps you apprised of status of
the active compilation process.
