Scripting and basic development tools for Windows?

Question

I'm seeking suggestions for tools I can use on Windows to perform simple scripting and general Java development related tasks on a command line or other non-GUI interface (i.e. moving files about, starting/stopping servers, running Maven, etc.). I'm accustomed to using Cygwin which provides a virtual Linux development environment but I have just started a job which has forbidden me to use Cygwin due to security concerns. So now I need to figure out how to do what I used to do on a bash shell command line on in some other way. Should I bite the bullet and learn to use cmd and how to create batch files, or is there a better way? I know I can do lots of this sort of thing via Eclipse, and I'm looking into that already, but I'm used to doing things at a lower level since it gives me a greater sense of control and would like to stick with that approach if possible.

Thanks in advance for your comments and/or suggestions.

--James

Answer 1

If it's basic development stuff you are trying to do, how about Ant? Beats learning DOS any day.

You could also try and learn Python and do your scripting in that.