diff --git a/build.xml b/build.xml
index 912cb04..3984849 100644
--- a/build.xml
+++ b/build.xml
@@ -1,29 +1,115 @@
 <project name="ant-sample" basedir="." default="build">
 
-    <!-- properties -->
+    <!-- ==================== -->
+    <!-- Property Definitions -->
+    <!-- ==================== -->
+    
+    <!-- Load library definitions from lib/project.properties -->
+    <property name="base" location="lib"/>
+    <property file="lib/project.properties"/>
+    
+    <!-- Project properties -->
     <property name="src.dir"     value="src"/>
     <property name="build.dir"   value="build"/>
     <property name="classes.dir" value="${build.dir}/classes"/>
     <property name="jar.dir"     value="${build.dir}/jar"/>
     <property name="doc.dir"     value="doc"/>
+    <property name="lib.dir"     value="lib"/>
+    
+    <!-- Project metadata -->
+    <property name="application.title" value="ant-sample"/>
+    <property name="main.class" value="piona.Main"/>
+    
+    <!-- Compiler settings -->
+    <property name="javac.source" value="1.8"/>
+    <property name="javac.target" value="1.8"/>
+    <property name="source.encoding" value="UTF-8"/>
+    
+    <!-- ==================== -->
+    <!-- Path Definitions     -->
+    <!-- ==================== -->
+    
+    <!-- Define the compile classpath using library references -->
+    <path id="compile.classpath">
+        <pathelement path="${libs.commons-lang3.classpath}"/>
+        <pathelement path="${libs.gson.classpath}"/>
+    </path>
+    
+    <!-- Define the runtime classpath -->
+    <path id="run.classpath">
+        <pathelement location="${classes.dir}"/>
+        <path refid="compile.classpath"/>
+    </path>
 
-    <!-- targets -->
-    <target name="compile" description="compile project">
+    <!-- ==================== -->
+    <!-- Build Targets        -->
+    <!-- ==================== -->
+    
+    <target name="init" description="initialize build environment">
+        <echo message="Building ${application.title}"/>
+        <echo message="Java version: ${ant.java.version}"/>
+        <echo message="Source level: ${javac.source}"/>
+        <echo message="Target level: ${javac.target}"/>
+        <echo message=""/>
+        <echo message="Dependencies:"/>
+        <echo message="  - commons-lang3: ${libs.commons-lang3.classpath}"/>
+        <echo message="  - gson: ${libs.gson.classpath}"/>
+    </target>
+    
+    <target name="compile" depends="init" description="compile project">
         <mkdir dir="${classes.dir}"/>
-        <javac srcdir="${src.dir}" destdir="${classes.dir}" includeantruntime="false"/>
+        <javac srcdir="${src.dir}" 
+               destdir="${classes.dir}" 
+               includeantruntime="false"
+               source="${javac.source}"
+               target="${javac.target}"
+               encoding="${source.encoding}">
+            <classpath refid="compile.classpath"/>
+        </javac>
+        <echo message="Compilation complete"/>
     </target>
 
-    <target name="jar" depends="compile" description="generate the distribution jar">
+    <target name="jar" depends="compile" description="generate the distribution jar with dependencies">
         <mkdir dir="${jar.dir}"/>
-        <jar destfile="${jar.dir}/${ant.project.name}.jar" basedir="${classes.dir}">
+        
+        <!-- Create JAR with manifest -->
+        <jar destfile="${jar.dir}/${application.title}.jar" 
+             basedir="${classes.dir}">
             <manifest>
-                <attribute name="Main-Class" value="piona.Main"/>
+                <attribute name="Main-Class" value="${main.class}"/>
+                <attribute name="Class-Path" value="commons-lang3-3.12.0.jar gson-2.10.1.jar"/>
             </manifest>
         </jar>
+        
+        <!-- Copy dependency JARs to the distribution directory -->
+        <copy todir="${jar.dir}">
+            <fileset dir="${lib.dir}">
+                <include name="*.jar"/>
+                <exclude name="project.properties"/>
+            </fileset>
+        </copy>
+        
+        <echo message="JAR created: ${jar.dir}/${application.title}.jar"/>
+        <echo message="Dependencies copied to: ${jar.dir}/"/>
     </target>
 
     <target name="run" depends="jar" description="run application">
-        <java jar="${jar.dir}/${ant.project.name}.jar" fork="true"/>
+        <java classname="${main.class}" fork="true">
+            <classpath>
+                <path refid="run.classpath"/>
+            </classpath>
+        </java>
+    </target>
+    
+    <target name="run-jar" depends="jar" description="run application from JAR">
+        <java jar="${jar.dir}/${application.title}.jar" fork="true">
+            <classpath>
+                <pathelement location="${jar.dir}/${application.title}.jar"/>
+                <fileset dir="${jar.dir}">
+                    <include name="*.jar"/>
+                </fileset>
+            </classpath>
+        </java>
     </target>
 
     <target name="build" depends="jar" description="build application"/>
diff --git a/lib/commons-lang3-3.12.0.jar b/lib/commons-lang3-3.12.0.jar
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..4d434a2
Binary files /dev/null and b/lib/commons-lang3-3.12.0.jar differ
diff --git a/lib/gson-2.10.1.jar b/lib/gson-2.10.1.jar
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..a88c5bd
Binary files /dev/null and b/lib/gson-2.10.1.jar differ
diff --git a/lib/project.properties b/lib/project.properties
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..da36851
--- /dev/null
+++ b/lib/project.properties
@@ -0,0 +1,14 @@
+# Library definitions for ant-sample project
+# This file defines reusable library references that can be used across the project
+
+# Apache Commons Lang3 - Utility library
+libs.commons-lang3.classpath=\
+    ${base}/commons-lang3-3.12.0.jar
+libs.commons-lang3.displayName=Apache Commons Lang3
+libs.commons-lang3.javadoc=
+
+# Google Gson - JSON processing
+libs.gson.classpath=\
+    ${base}/gson-2.10.1.jar
+libs.gson.displayName=Google Gson
+libs.gson.javadoc=
diff --git a/manifest.mf b/manifest.mf
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..06d010e
--- /dev/null
+++ b/manifest.mf
@@ -0,0 +1,2 @@
+Manifest-Version: 1.0
+Main-Class: piona.Main
diff --git a/src/piona/Main.java b/src/piona/Main.java
index c0b6cb6..b8bc7f2 100644
--- a/src/piona/Main.java
+++ b/src/piona/Main.java
@@ -1,7 +1,11 @@
 package piona;
 
+import org.apache.commons.lang3.StringUtils;
+import com.google.gson.Gson;
+import com.google.gson.JsonObject;
+
 /**
- * Main class.
+ * Main class - demonstrates dependency management.
  */
 public class Main {
     
@@ -13,6 +17,18 @@ public class Main {
     public static void main(String[] args) {
         HelloWorld hw = new HelloWorld();
         System.out.println(hw);
+        
+        // Demonstrate Apache Commons Lang3 usage
+        String reversed = StringUtils.reverse("Hello from dependencies!");
+        System.out.println("Reversed string: " + reversed);
+        
+        // Demonstrate Gson usage
+        Gson gson = new Gson();
+        JsonObject json = new JsonObject();
+        json.addProperty("application", "ant-sample");
+        json.addProperty("message", "Dependencies are working!");
+        json.addProperty("timestamp", System.currentTimeMillis());
+        System.out.println("JSON output: " + gson.toJson(json));
     }
 }