Pax Construct

Tim O'Brien blogs about Maven and Pax Tools:

This post is a quick start guide to using the Maven PAX plugin to create OSGi project and start an OSGi runtime environment (Apache Felix).

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The just released version of Maven Cookbook, contains a new full chapter about doing OSGi development using Maven using OPS4J Pax tools such as Pax Construct and Pax Runner.

In this chapter, we introduce some tools and techniques you can use to start developing OSGi components (or bundles) using Maven. The following recipes focus on the intersection of Apache Felix, the OPS4J project, and the Nexus repository manager as a bridge between Maven repositories and OSGi Bundle repositories. At the end of this chapter, you should have a clear picture of how to start developing OSGi-based applications using Maven.

So, if you just starting doing OSGi development do not hesitate and grab a copy of the free online book.

DZone: In general, tools for OSGi development seem sparse. Do you have any recommendations on tools or frameworks that aid bundle development, management, or runtime environment setup? Do you have a preferred OSGi development stack?

Craig: I'm a huge fan of the work done on the OPS4J Pax projects. They offer several great tools for working with OSGi, including Pax Construct, a script-driven approach to developing OSGi projects that is quite similar to working with frameworks like Rails and Grails. and a runtime setup tool called Pax Runner that's great for bootstrapping an OSGi framework with a selection of bundles. I can't imagine developing OSGi bundles without Pax Construct or starting an OSGi-based application without Pax Runner.

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