Home/ Questions/Q 6705489
In Process

The Archive Base Latest Questions

Editorial Team
  • 0
Asked: 2026-05-26T07:24:35+00:00

I am working with a team that develops a Java application using the following

  • 0

I am working with a team that develops a Java application using the following well-established toolchain for automated building, testing and continuous integration:

  • OS: Ubuntu
  • IDE: Eclipse
  • Build tools: Ant
  • Testing framework: JUnit
  • Source control: Subversion
  • CI server: Jenkins

A typical Jenkins job will grab the Java source from Subversion, and run Ant targets to build the code, run automated tests and create deployment artifacts.

We are now considering writing a .Net plugin for Windows clients to access our application’s API from MS Excel. We will probably write it using either C# or F# – it’s early days, and we haven’t settled on a language yet, but F# seems as if it may offer some benefits in terms of being able to express API actions using a combinator-based DSL.

We would like to do as much of this work as possible on Linux, using Mono, and to use our existing CI infrastructure to build and test our software.

My first impression is that the toolchain will look something like this:

  • OS: Linux
  • IDE: Monodevelop / VIM (Eclipse support for Mono, and especially for F#, seems lacking)
  • Build Tool: NAnt
  • Testing framework: NUnit
  • Source control: Subversion
  • CI server: Jenkins, with NAnt plugin

Does anyone have any experience of developing with this kind of toolchain? The two questions I would like answered are:

  • What are the main pitfalls in this approach for developers used to the Java ecosystem?
  • Are there better alternatives to NAnt and NUnit for building and running automated tests, especially for F#?
Share

Leave an answer

You must login to add an answer.

Need An Account,

1 Answer

  1. Editorial Team

    What are the main pitfalls in this approach for developers used to the Java ecosystem?

    You are using a Linux operating system to develop an extension for Excel, which is primarily Windows. The Mono Platform is pretty excellent – but you could run into bugs – either with C# or F#. It’s not as big of an issue as it was a few years ago, but worth considering. If you do decide to stick on the Mono / Linux platform – MonoDevelop is the way to go.

    Are there better alternatives to NAnt and NUnit for building and running automated tests, especially for F#?

    Take a look at FsUnit if you plan on going with F#. It has some nice syntax assertions, etc. It’s complimentary to NUnit, so you won’t be in uncharted waters.

    • 0