diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index 7b794af6a..59c5bce78 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -3,56 +3,82 @@
 
 What you need to build your own jQuery
 ---------------------------------------
-* Make sure that you have Java installed (if you want to build a minified version of jQuery).
-If not, go to this page and download "Java Runtime Environment (JRE) 5.0"  
-[http://java.sun.com/javase/downloads/index.jsp](http://java.sun.com/javase/downloads/index.jsp)
+* Make sure that you have Java installed (if you want to build a minified version of jQuery).  
+If not, [go to this page](http://java.sun.com/javase/downloads/index.jsp) and download "Java Runtime Environment (JRE) 5.0"
 
-* You now have two options for building jQuery, if you have access to common UNIX commands (like `make`, `mkdir`, `rm`, `cat`, and `echo`) then simply type `make` to build all the components.
+Build Options
+--------------
 
-* The other option is if you have Ant installed (or are on Windows and don't have access to make). You can download Ant from here: [http://ant.apache.org/bindownload.cgi](http://ant.apache.org/bindownload.cgi)
-If you do have Ant, everytime (in this README) that I say 'make', do 'ant' instead - it works identically (for all intents and purposes).
+You now have **three** options for building jQuery:
+
+* **`make`**: If you have access to common UNIX commands (like `make`, `mkdir`, `rm`, `cat`, and `echo`) then simply type `make` to build all the components.
+
+* **`rake`**: If you have Ruby Rake installed (on either Windows or UNIX/Linux), you can simply type `rake` to build all the components.
+
+* **`ant`**: If you have Ant installed (or are on Windows and don't have access to make). You can download Ant from here: [http://ant.apache.org/bindownload.cgi].
 
 How to build your own jQuery
 -----------------------------
 
+*Note: If you are using either `rake` or `ant`, substitute your chosen method in place of `make` in the examples below. They work identically for all intents and purposes. Quick reference is also available for `rake` by typing `rake -T` in the `jquery` directory.*
+
 In the main directory of the distribution (the one that this file is in), type
 the following to make all versions of jQuery:
 
-`make`
+    make
 
-Here are each of the individual items that are buildable from the Makefile.
+*Here are the individual items that are buildable from the Makefile:*
 
-`make init`
+    make init
 
 Pull in all the external dependencies (QUnit, Sizzle) for the project.
 
-`make jquery`
+    make jquery
 
 The standard, uncompressed, jQuery code.  
-Makes: ./dist/jquery.js
+Makes: `./dist/jquery.js`
 
-`make min`
+    make min
 
 A compressed version of jQuery (made the Closure Compiler).  
-Makes: ./dist/jquery.min.js
+Makes: `./dist/jquery.min.js`
 
-`make lint`
+    make lint
 
 Tests a build of jQuery against JSLint, looking for potential errors or bits of confusing code.
 
-`make selector`
+    make selector
 
 Builds the selector library for jQuery from Sizzle.  
-Makes: ./src/selector.js
+Makes: `./src/selector.js`
 
 Finally, you can remove all the built files using the command:
   
-`make clean`
+    make clean
 
-Additionally, if you want to install jQuery to a location that is not this
-directory, you can specify the PREFIX directory, for example:
+Building to a different directory
+----------------------------------
+
+If you want to build jQuery to a directory that is different from the default location, you can...
+
+**Make only:** Specify the PREFIX directory, for example:
   
-`make PREFIX=/home/john/test/`
+    make PREFIX=/home/john/test/ [command]
+    
+With this example, the output files would be contained in `/home/john/test/dist/`
+
+**Rake only:** Define the DIST_DIR directory, for example:
+
+    rake DIST_DIR=/home/john/test/ [command]
+    
+With this example, the output files would be contained in `/home/john/test/`
+
+*In both examples, `[command]` is optional.*
+
+**Ant only:** You cannot currently build to another directory when using Ant.
+
+Questions?
+----------
 
 If you have any questions, please feel free to ask them on the jQuery
 mailing list, which can be found here:  
diff --git a/Rakefile b/Rakefile
index 71a706719..38406bdbb 100644
--- a/Rakefile
+++ b/Rakefile
@@ -1,26 +1,138 @@
-# Basic Rakefile for building jQuery
-files = [ "intro", "core", "support", "data", "queue", "event", "selector", "traversing", "attributes", "manipulation", "css", "ajax", "effects", "offset", "dimensions", "outro" ]
+prefix    = File.dirname( __FILE__ )
 
-date = `git log -1 | grep Date: | sed 's/[^:]*: *//'`.gsub(/\n/, "")
-version = `cat version.txt`.gsub(/\n/, "")
+# Directory variables
+src_dir   = File.join( prefix, 'src' )
+build_dir = File.join( prefix, 'build' )
+test_dir  = File.join( prefix, 'test' )
 
-task :default => :jquery
+# A different destination directory can be set by
+# setting DIST_DIR before calling rake
+dist_dir  = ENV['DIST_DIR'] || File.join( prefix, 'dist' )
 
-task :init do
-	sh "if test ! -d test/qunit; then git clone git://github.com/jquery/qunit.git test/qunit; fi"
-	sh "if test ! -d src/sizzle; then git clone git://github.com/jeresig/sizzle.git src/sizzle; fi"
-	sh "cd src/sizzle && git pull origin master &> /dev/null"
-	sh "cd test/qunit && git pull origin master &> /dev/null"
+base_files = %w{intro core support data queue attributes event selector traversing manipulation css ajax effects offset dimensions outro}.map { |js| File.join( src_dir, "#{js}.js" ) }
+
+# Sizzle, QUnit and jQuery files/dirs
+sizzle_dir = File.join( src_dir, "sizzle" )
+sizzle     = File.join( sizzle_dir, "sizzle.js" )
+selector   = File.join( src_dir, "selector.js" )
+
+qunit_dir  = File.join( test_dir, "qunit" )
+qunit      = File.join( qunit_dir, "qunit", "qunit.js" )
+
+jq         = File.join( dist_dir, "jquery.js" )
+jq_min     = File.join( dist_dir, "jquery.min.js" )
+
+# General Variables
+date       = `git log -1`[/^Date:\s+(.+)$/, 1]
+version    = File.read( File.join( prefix, 'version.txt' ) ).strip
+
+# Build tools
+rhino      = "java -jar #{build_dir}/js.jar"
+minfier    = "java -jar #{build_dir}/google-compiler-20091218.jar"
+
+# Turn off output other than needed from `sh` and file commands
+verbose(false) 
+
+# Tasks
+task :default => "all"
+
+desc "Builds jQuery; Tests with JSLint; Minifies jQuery"
+task :all => [:jquery, :lint, :min] do
+  puts "jQuery build complete."
 end
 
-task :jquery => [:init, :selector] do
-	sh "mkdir -p dist"
+desc "Builds jQuery: jquery.js (Default task)"
+task :jquery => [:selector, jq]
 
-	sh "cat " + files.map {|file| "src/" + file + ".js"}.join(" ") +
-		" | sed 's/Date:./&" + date + "/' | " +
-		" sed s/@VERSION/" + version + "/ > dist/jquery.js"
+desc "Builds a minified version of jQuery: jquery.min.js"
+task :min => jq_min
+
+
+task :init => [sizzle, qunit] do
+  sizzle_git = File.join(sizzle_dir, '.git')
+  qunit_git  = File.join(qunit_dir,  '.git')
+  
+  puts "Updating SizzleJS with latest..."
+	sh "git --git-dir=#{sizzle_git} pull -q origin master"
+
+  puts "Updating QUnit with latest..."
+	sh "git --git-dir=#{qunit_git} pull -q origin master"
 end
 
-task :selector do
-	sh "sed '/EXPOSE/r src/sizzle-jquery.js' src/sizzle/sizzle.js > src/selector.js"
+desc "Removes dist folder, selector.js, and Sizzle/QUnit"
+task :clean do
+  puts "Removing Distribution directory: #{dist_dir}..." 
+  rm_rf dist_dir
+
+  puts "Removing built copy of Sizzle..."
+  rm_rf selector
+
+  puts "Removing cloned directories..."
+  rm_rf qunit_dir
+  rm_rf sizzle_dir
 end
+
+desc "Rebuilds selector.js from SizzleJS"
+task :selector => [:init, selector]
+
+desc "Tests built jquery.js against JSLint"
+task :lint => jq do
+  puts "Checking jQuery against JSLint..."
+  sh "#{rhino} " + File.join(build_dir, 'jslint-check.js')
+end
+
+
+# File and Directory Dependencies
+directory dist_dir
+
+file jq => [dist_dir, base_files].flatten do
+  puts "Building jquery.js..."
+  
+  File.open(jq, 'w') do |f|
+    f.write cat(base_files).gsub(/(Date:.)/, "\\1#{date}" ).gsub(/@VERSION/, version)
+  end
+end
+
+file jq_min => jq do
+  puts "Building jquery.min.js..."
+
+  sh "#{minfier} --js #{jq} --warning_level QUIET --js_output_file #{jq_min}"
+  
+  min = File.read( jq_min )
+  
+  # Equivilent of "head"
+  File.open(jq_min, 'w') do |f|
+    f.write File.readlines(jq)[0..14].join()
+    f.write min
+  end
+end
+
+file selector => [sizzle, :init] do 
+  puts "Building selector code from Sizzle..."
+  
+  File.open(selector, 'w') do |f|
+    f.write File.read(sizzle).gsub( 
+      /^.+EXPOSE$\n/, 
+      '\0' + File.read( File.join( src_dir, 'sizzle-jquery.js' ))
+    ).gsub(
+      /^window.Sizzle.+$\n/, ''
+    )
+  end
+end
+
+file sizzle do
+  puts "Retrieving SizzleJS from Github..."
+  sh "git clone git://github.com/jeresig/sizzle.git #{sizzle_dir}"
+end
+
+file qunit do
+  puts "Retrieving QUnit from Github..."
+  sh "git clone git://github.com/jquery/qunit.git #{qunit_dir}"
+end
+
+
+def cat( files )
+  files.map do |file|
+    File.read(file)
+  end.join('')
+end
\ No newline at end of file
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