Ant http://ant.apache.org/ is an open-source build tool providing make-like functionality for java projects.
Example build.xml files
Some pointers I've gleaned
ANT script best practices by Eric M. Burke: http://www.onjava.com/pub/a/onjava/2003/12/17/ant_bestpractices.html When you negate the best practices, you should get some sort of "smells for ANT scripts".
ANTGRAPH: a tool that visualizes dependencies of targets in ANT scripts: http://www.ericburke.com/downloads/antgraph/index.html
Ken Arnold's critique: http://www.artima.com/weblogs/viewpost.jsp?thread=7435
Running Ant JUnit task under Eclipse: http://www.ryanlowe.ca/blog/archives/001038_junit_ant_task_doesnt_work_in_eclipse.php