First-Class Builds With Gradle

If you work with Java, chances are good that your project's build system is verbose and complicated. It is only natural: many of our build tools are verbose and complicated. For all the stunning advances in libraries and languages on the JVM, they are usually aimed at our projects, and not our builds. Despite being essential, the build languishes behind in technology.

Gradle is a nascent build tool that combines support for Ant and Maven with the fluidity and power of Groovy. From its strong documentation, to its advanced capabilities (e.g. multi-project builds), it is a bona fide contender in a brand-new era for build systems: an era where the build is treated as a first-class object.

In this talk, we'll take a tour of Gradle and provide you with the information you'll need to decide if this tool is right for your project.

About Michael Easter

Michael Easter has been a consultant with Advantage Consulting in St Louis since 2006, and has been a professional developer for 16 years. Immersed primarily within Java technology, he enjoys frequent excursions into other languages such as Groovy and Haskell. He holds an M.Math. from the University of Waterloo in Computer Science.

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