Enterprise: meet the modern web. I think you two will get along just fine.

The apparent attitude that building 'enterprise' applications should dictate using draconian tools and producing unusable interfaces is disturbing. Complexity and scale of a project are not an excuse for making both developers and users miserable. Nor is historical precedent a reason to continue using archaic practices.

The purpose of this tool is to help kick-start big Java-based projects that don't suck using blueprints that work. Think of the Rails command-line or projects like Yeoman, but targeting the comforts of statically-typed and business friendly Java on the back-end.

Project goals:

• Provide the most productive development environment possible right out of the gates. Cut out time associated with boot-strapping a project.
• Help start projects on solid footing by providing the right frameworks and tools to build something awesome. Cut Sharepoint and Oracle ADF out of the vocabulary before they even come up.

Create a directory for your project and create a build.gradle file with the following contents:

buildscript {
    dependencies {
        classpath fileTree(dir: 'path/to/java-kickstart', includes: ['*.jar'])
    }
}
apply plugin: 'kickstart'

Now run the create-project command to generate your project stub:

$ gradle create-project

The project is ready to run.

$ gradle war
$ gradle jettyRun