When we develop applications, we usually develop the code with an IDE. In this chapter, we have seen how we can use the Gradle plugins in Eclipse, Eclipse WTP, and IDEA, to generate project files for Eclipse and IntelliJ IDEA.

The plugins have a DSL to change the configuration before the files are generated. We can also use hooks to change the model objects before and after the DSL is applied. At the lowest level, we can use the withXml hook to alter the XML content before the file is written to disk.

Both Eclipse and IntelliJ IDEA have plugins to import an existing Gradle project. We can then work with the project from within the IDE. Extra dependencies or changes are reflected in the classpath project files, so that the code can be compiled with the IDE's compiler. We can also run Gradle tasks from within the IDE, so we don't have to leave our favorite IDE if we want to use Gradle.

In this book, we have seen the power of Gradle as a build tool. The Gradle syntax is very consistent and compact. If we know the basics, we can accomplish many things. We learned how to add functionality to a build file, with tasks. We have seen how we can use Gradle in Java, Groovy, and Scala projects. We saw Gradle's features for working with multi-projects. We have learned how to create custom tasks and plugins to enable the re-use of build logic across projects. After reading this book, we will be able to use Gradle in our software development. By using Gradle, we can have great flexibility in our projects and still rely on sold convention-over-configuration defaults. We can start simple and gradually expand the build script with more functionality. With this book, we should get started quickly and have successful Gradle implementation in our projects.