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What changed in Ant 1.9.13 and 1.10.5?
Apache released both versions on July 13, 2018, as source and binary distributions. They belong to separate maintained release lines: Ant 1.9.x and Ant 1.10.x. The newer 1.10.5 release contains a superset of 1.9.13’s functionality, apart from a few older tasks or features that no longer work with Java 8, including apt. See the Apache Ant project for the project’s release information.
Fixes included in both releases
gettask redirects: Both releases fix a regression that caused an exception when an HTTP request redirected to HTTPS.- Archive extraction path traversal: Both address a bug in unarchiving protection. When the protection setting was false, archive entries containing enough
..path segments could resolve beyond the filesystem root. The release notes describe the fix in the Ant 1.9.13 notes and Ant 1.10.5 notes.
Does Ant 1.10.5 support Java 11 single-file source programs?
Yes. Ant 1.10.5’s java task accepts a sourcefile attribute, enabling the single-file source execution feature introduced in Java 11. This lets a build invoke a Java source file directly rather than first compiling it as a separate build step. The feature is specifically documented in the Ant 1.10.5 release notes.
This support is in Ant 1.10.5, not 1.9.13. It depends on using a Java runtime that provides Java 11’s single-file source capability; Ant’s own 1.10.x runtime baseline is Java 8, which is a minimum compatibility requirement, not a claim that Java 8 can execute Java 11 source files.
Should you use Ant 1.9.13 or 1.10.5?
| Release | Minimum Java runtime | Feature coverage | Best fit |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ant 1.9.13 | Java 5 for the 1.9.x line (Apache Ant project, 2018) | Older feature set; shared fixes noted above | Build environments that must run Ant on Java earlier than Java 8 |
| Ant 1.10.5 | Java 8 for the 1.10.x line (Apache Ant project, 2018) | Superset of 1.9.13 except for some features incompatible with Java 8, including apt; adds sourcefile support for Java 11 single-file execution |
Build environments able to run Ant on Java 8 or later that want the newer line |
The Apache Ant project recommends the 1.10.x line unless a build must run with a Java version before Java 8. The decision is therefore primarily about the Java runtime available to Ant and any dependency on legacy tasks—not simply which release number is larger.
Independent reader supportYour contribution helps us test, update, and keep practical guides available for everyone.What Java version does Ant 1.9.13 require?
Ant 1.9.13 belongs to the 1.9.x line, which requires Java 5 at runtime. By comparison, Ant 1.10.5 belongs to the 1.10.x line, which requires Java 8 at runtime. These are the project’s stated runtime baselines for the two lines; they do not describe the Java version your application source must target.
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