> There are ways of avoiding the long compile/deploy cycle in Java development, but most people don't take the time to learn them.

Pointers would be very much appreciated.

I've inherited 50K lines of java of the 'cut-and-paste' variety after one of those 'rockstar ninja' types quit just before product launch and I'm busy refactoring and commenting everything. Currently the ect cycle is on the order of a couple of minutes and I'd really like to get that down to something more manageable.