Update Gradle wrapper to version 9.5.1 and enhance workflows

[rapatao]

This pull request upgrades the project's dependencies, build tools, and documentation to support Java 21, Jackson 3.x, and the latest Gradle ecosystem. It also updates the GitHub Actions workflow for publishing, refines the README with new features and clearer examples, and improves compatibility and configuration for serialization and the Rhino evaluator.

Dependency and Build Tool Upgrades:

• Updated javaVersion to 21, kotlinVersion to 2.3.21, jacksonVersion to 3.1.3 (with new tools.jackson namespace), rhinoVersion to 1.8.1, and other related versions in gradle.properties. Upgraded Gradle wrapper to 9.5.1. [1] [2] [3] [4] [5] [6] [7] [8] [9] [10]
• Updated Jackson dependencies and usage to the new tools.jackson namespace in jackson/build.gradle and test files. [1] [2] [3] [4] [5] [6]
• Updated Rhino evaluator to use interpretedMode instead of optimizationLevel for compatibility with newer Rhino versions. [1] [2]

CI/CD and Publishing Workflow Improvements:

• Updated GitHub Actions workflow in .github/workflows/publish.yaml to use newer actions (checkout@v6, setup-java@v5, ghaction-import-gpg@v7), Java 21, and a new deployment/finalization process using the Sonatype API. [1] [2] [3]

Documentation Enhancements:

• Improved the README.md with:
  • New sections for range expressions (from, to, etc.) and failure handling strategies (OnFailure).
  • Updated code examples for clarity and correctness.
  • Clarified group operation descriptions.
  • Updated Jackson serialization instructions for 3.x. [1] [2] [3] [4] [5]

Other Improvements:

• Removed an outdated Sonatype OSS badge from the README.
• Updated test and serialization examples to use the new Jackson configuration and builder patterns. [1] [2]

These changes modernize the codebase, improve documentation, and ensure compatibility with the latest Java, Kotlin, and serialization libraries.