The Environment is completely reusable and designed, by default, to provide "good enough" functionality.  For example, the included build Ant build script, jplate-build should be sufficient for building most Java projects.

• Customizable
  

• Modular

Projects are not just about building alone - additional functionality, such as cross platform scripting, is required so as to "leave one's options open."  Clearly the "write once, run everywhere" montra is very desirable.  Not binding one's projects to any specific platform as well as providing enough "plumbing" to be project ready - is a tremendous plus.  With that said, the Environment does all this and then some.

Build scripts that will build most, if not all, projects.  The minimal requirement is to define some properties and/or environment variables - both work equally well!  Please note:  the aforementioned may be required when a default value is not "good enough" or some dependency requires additional data.  For example, to use JavaCC, one must define the "home" (installation) directory where it has been installed.

Inevitably when creating a project, some scripting functionality will be needed - for instance, iterating over a collection of files to perform some action.  The Environment provides plenty of useful script like functionality.  Additionaly, by standardizing on Java and Ant, all platforms that support them will support the Environment too.