Java Sources 

sbt has support for compiling Java sources with the limitation that dependency tracking is limited to the dependencies present in compiled class files.

Usage 

• compile will compile the sources under src/main/java by default.
• testCompile will compile the sources under src/test/java by default.

Pass options to the Java compiler by setting javacOptions:

javacOptions += "-g:none"

As with options for the Scala compiler, the arguments are not parsed by sbt. Multi-element options, such as -source 1.5, are specified like:

javacOptions ++= Seq("-source", "1.5")

You can specify the order in which Scala and Java sources are built with the compileOrder setting. Possible values are from the CompileOrder enumeration: Mixed, JavaThenScala, and ScalaThenJava. If you have circular dependencies between Scala and Java sources, you need the default, Mixed, which passes both Java and Scala sources to scalac and then compiles the Java sources with javac. If you do not have circular dependencies, you can use one of the other two options to speed up your build by not passing the Java sources to scalac. For example, if your Scala sources depend on your Java sources, but your Java sources do not depend on your Scala sources, you can do:

compileOrder := CompileOrder.JavaThenScala

To specify different orders for main and test sources, scope the setting by configuration:

// Java then Scala for main sources
compileOrder in Compile := CompileOrder.JavaThenScala

// allow circular dependencies for test sources
compileOrder in Test := CompileOrder.Mixed

Note that in an incremental compilation setting, it is not practical to ensure complete isolation between Java sources and Scala sources because they share the same output directory. So, previously compiled classes not involved in the current recompilation may be picked up. A clean compile will always provide full checking, however.

Known issues in mixed mode compilation 

The Scala compiler does not identify compile-time constant variables (Java specification 4.12.4) as such when parsing a Java file from source. This issue has several symptoms, described in the Scala ticket SI-5333:

1. The selection of a constant variable is rejected when used as an argument to a Java annotation (a compile-time constant expression is required).
2. The selection of a constant variable is not replaced by its value, but compiled as an actual field load (the Scala specification 4.1 defines that constant expressions should be replaced by their values).
3. Exhaustiveness checking does not work when pattern matching on the values of a Java enumeration (SI-8700).

Since Scala 2.11.4, a similar issue arises when using a Java-defined annotation in a Scala class. The Scala compiler does not recognize @Retention annotations when parsing the annotation @interface from source and therefore emits the annotation with visibility RUNTIME (SI-8928).

Ignoring the Scala source directories 

By default, sbt includes src/main/scala and src/main/java in its list of unmanaged source directories. For Java-only projects, the unnecessary Scala directories can be ignored by modifying unmanagedSourceDirectories:

// Include only src/main/java in the compile configuration
unmanagedSourceDirectories in Compile := (javaSource in Compile).value :: Nil

// Include only src/test/java in the test configuration
unmanagedSourceDirectories in Test := (javaSource in Test).value :: Nil

However, there should not be any harm in leaving the Scala directories if they are empty.