Efficient project automation is one of the key enablers for delivering software to the end user. The build tool of choice shouldn’t stand in the way of this effort; rather, it should provide you with a flexible and maintainable way to model your automation needs. Gradle’s core strength is that it provides you with easy-to-understand but powerful tooling to automate your project end-to-end.
In chapter 1, we’ll discuss the benefits of project automation and its impact on the ability to develop and deliver software in a repeatable, reliable, and portable fashion. You’ll learn the basic concepts and components of a build tool and how they’re implemented with Ant and Maven. By comparing their pros and cons, you’ll see the need for a next-generation build tool.
Gradle draws on lessons learned from established build tools and takes their best ideas to the next level. Chapter 2 introduces you to Gradle’s compelling feature set. You’ll install the Gradle runtime and explore how to write and execute a simple build script from the command line.
Simple build scripts only go so far. Chapter 3 introduces a real-world Java-based web application. You’ll learn the configuration needed to compile, unit-test, package, and run the sample. By the end of part 1, you’ll have a feel for Gradle’s expressiveness and flexibility.
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