I'm developing, compiling, and running my Java project from the Ubuntu command line. The IDE I was using gave me helpers that generated basic project files for me.
Is there something similar available for the command line?
You can achieve that using Maven, but you have to define simple pom.xml first.
Here you can find details: http://maven.apache.org/guides/mini/guide-creating-archetypes.html
@EDIT: Here is better tutorial: http://www.mkyong.com/maven/how-to-create-a-java-project-with-maven/