Introduction to the Gradle Build System

Introduction to the Gradle Build System

Bascom Bridge’s Gradle course teaches the fundamentals of the Gradle build system, which is used to compile, test, and deploy Java and/or Groovy projects.

GRADLE TRAINING OBJECTIVES

All students will:

• Learn the basics of Groovy programming
• Understand the challenges of build processes
• Use Gradle with the standard conventions
• Map to alternative project layouts
• Manage dependencies
• Declare repositories
• Create custom tasks
• Use the Gradle wrapper
• Select and use Gradle plugins for added functionality
• Work with the Gadle directed acyclic graph
• Create and use configurations in Gradle

GRADLE TRAINING PREREQUISITES

Attendees should be comfortable with Java. Some knowledge of Groovy would be helpful but is not required.

GRADLE TRAINING MATERIALS

All attendees receive comprehensive courseware and a related textbook.

SOFTWARE NEEDED FOR EACH PC:

• JDK 1.6 or later
• The latest stable release of Gradle
• A powerful IDE that supports Groovy and Grails, such as SpringSource’s Groovy/Grails Tool Suite or IntelliJ IDEA
• Related free software and lab files; please contact us for detailed specifications
• For classes delivered online, all participants need either dual monitors or a separate device logged into the online session so that they can do their work on one screen and watch the instructor on the other. A separate computer connected to a projector or large screen TV would be another way for students to see the instructor’s screen simultaneously with working on their own.

GRADLE TRAINING OUTLINE

• Introduction
• Enough Groovy for Gradle
  • The basic Groovy data types and optional typing
  • Overriding operators and type coercion
  • Groovy strings
  • Ranges, lists, and collections
  • Closures
• Installing Gradle
  • Environment variables
  • Testing your installation
• Quick Tour of Gradle
  • Creating build scripts
  • Declaring dependencies
  • Accessing repositories
  • Applying plugins
  • Configuring the directed acyclic graph
• Building Java Projects
  • Standard project structure
  • The Java plugin
  • Running tests
• Building Groovy Projects
  • The Groovy project structure
  • Working with both Groovy and Java
  • Executing tests with both JUnit and Spock
• Defining Tasks
  • Declaring tasks
  • Defining project properties
  • Setting dependencies
  • Using doFirst and doLast
  • Using the builtin task types
  • Inserting your tasks into the DAG
• Incremental Builds
  • Inputs and outputs
  • Using onlyIf
  • Refreshing the cache
• The Gradle Daemon
  • Usage and troubleshooting
  • Configuring the daemon
• Plugins
  • Plugins that ship with Gradle
  • The standard plugin repository
  • Some useful plugins
• IDE Integration
  • Eclipse projects
  • IntelliJ IDEA
• The Gradle Wrapper
  • Specifying versions
  • Generating the scripts
• Multiproject Builds
  • Using settings.xml
  • Consolidating configuration properties
  • Making one subproject depend on another
• Conclusion