Gradle
Gradle is an open-source build automation tool focused on flexibility and performance. It builds upon features of Apache Ant and Apache Maven and introduces a Groovy-based domain-specific language instead of XML form to declare the project configuration.
build-automation
dependency-management
groovy-dsl
Gradle: Open-Source Build Automation Tool
An open-source build automation tool focused on flexibility and performance, building upon features of Apache Ant and Apache Maven with a Groovy-based DSL.
What is Gradle?
Gradle is an open-source build automation tool focused on flexibility and performance. It builds upon the features of Apache Ant and Apache Maven, while providing a more flexible way to declare build logic through a Groovy-based domain-specific language (DSL), avoiding XML configuration.
Some key features and advantages of Gradle include:
- Build scripts are written in Groovy instead of XML, making them easier to read and maintain.
- Built-in dependency management through integration with Maven and Ivy repositories.
- Powerful plugin ecosystem providing abundant plugins for capabilities like application testing, deployment, etc.
- Supports builds for multiple languages - Java, C/C++, Python, etc.
- Good for monolithic as well as microservice-based project structures.
- Incremental build support to reuse outputs from previous builds, improving performance.
- Parallel and cached task execution to leverage multiple CPU cores.
Gradle is commonly used in Java/JVM projects, Android apps, frontend web projects, and native C/C++ projects across open source and enterprises. Though initially more suited for Java/JVM, improvements over versions have made it polyglot. The Groovy DSL, extensibility through custom plugins, and performance make it a versatile build tool popular among developers.
Gradle Features
Features
- Flexible build configurations
- Built-in dependency management
- Supports multi-project builds
- Plugin ecosystem
- Incremental builds
Pricing
- Open Source
Pros
Highly customizable
Good performance
Large plugin ecosystem
Backed by open-source community
Cons
Steep learning curve
Complex DSL
Limited IDE integration
Official Links
The Best Gradle Alternatives
Top Development and Build Tools and other similar apps like Gradle
Here are some alternatives to Gradle:
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