Gradle Notes

Intro

These notes were created solely for educational purposes while I was learning Gradle on my own. The main focus is to grasp Gradle basics, terminology, concepts and workflow. That is why for simplicity I am using:

• Groovy as build script language
• Java as main programming language
• zsh in Terminal

Where to start?

❕ Click here to start ❕

〰️ or feel free to jump to any topic, using Table of Contents below 〰️

Interested in Maven? 👀

Check new bonus chapter: 🪶 Maven Notes 🪶

Table of Contents:

1. What is Build Tool?

_{Learn how to "build" your project, what built-in options do you have, and why do you need build tools.}

• How do you “build” your code?
• How do you compile and run your code?
• Why do you need to use separate build tool?
• What build tools for Java exist?

2. How to Install?

_{Prerequisites, installation.}

• Prerequisites
• Installation
• How to check that Gradle is installed?
• When you don’t need installation?

3. Gradle Overview

_{Learn about Gradle features, core concept, and what lifecycle Gradle build has.}

• Features
• Gradle core concepts
• Build Lifecycle

4. Gradle Project

_{Learn how to create basic Gradle project, and what structure it has.}

• Basic project using gradle init command
• Basic structure

5. Build Script

_{Learn how to configure Gradle build using build script, get to know basic build.gradle structure, and also some Groovy basics - Gradle DSL.}

• build.gradle(.kts)
  • What can be added to the file?
  • plugins
  • metadata
  • repositories
  • dependencies
  • tasks
• Groovy basics

6. Gradle Wrapper

_{Learn what is Gradle Wrapper, why it is so useful, and how to use/upgrade it.}

• Executing tasks
• Wrapper overview
• gradle vs gradlew
• Add Wrapper to the project
• Upgrade version of Gradle using Wrapper

7. Create Java Application

_{Create simple Java application using different methods: init task, IDEs, or manually add Gradle to the project.}

• init task
• Manually adding Gradle
• Use IDEs

8. Work with Gradle

_{Work with Gradle using CLI or third-party tools.}

• Command-line interface
• Gradle & Supported Third-party Tools

9. Share Project

_{Learn where Gradle stores build output, how to generate build artifacts: jar, tar or zip files, and how to publish your library.}

• build directory
• Generate jar
• Distribute application
• Publish

10. Multi-Project Build

_{Learn about multi-project build structure, how to execute tasks, and how subprojects can depend on each other.}

• Structure
• Declare dependencies between subprojects
• Execute tasks
• Sharing common configurations

11. Troubleshooting Gradle

_{Learn where you can ask for help in case of some Gradle issues, and what is Build Scan.}

• Places to ask
• Troubleshooting docs
• Publish and share Build Scan

12. Maven Notes

_{Learn how to use Maven and what are the differences and similarities between Gradle and Maven functionality.}

• Install Maven
• What is Maven
• Gradle vs Maven
  • Short overview
  • Maven project creation
  • IDE support
  • Project structure
  • Configuration (pom.xml)
  • Commands to work with the tool
  • Plugins
  • Multi-project
  • Build output files
  • Maven Wrapper

13. Resources

_{Links to the resources that were used to write these cheatsheets.}