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Gradle

Gradle is a build automation tool for software development

kotlin/gradle

Introduction

Gradle is a build automation tool used primarily for Java, Kotlin, and other JVM-based projects. It helps automate tasks such as compiling code, managing dependencies, running tests, and packaging applications.

Create a new Kotlin project using Gradle and Kotlin Gradle DSL:

You can see that different files have been created:

Gradle Wrapper

When creating the project, the gradle folder has been created:

ps
ls .\gradle\wrapper\
Directory: C:\Users\david\gradle\gradle\wrapper

Mode                 LastWriteTime         Length Name
----                 -------------         ------ ----
-a----         4/10/2024      8:40          43583 gradle-wrapper.jar
-a----         4/10/2024      8:40            253 gradle-wrapper.properties

This folder contains the JAR file and the configuration of the Gradle Wrapper.

This application is executed with the file gradlew.bat (for Windows) or gradlew (for macOS and Linux).

The “Gradle Wrapper” uses a specific version of Gradle, and if this version is not on the computer, it downloads it directly from the Internet.

This way any user working with the project will use the same version of Gradle, even if they don’t have Gradle installed on their computer.

Project

The general project configuration is in the settings.gradle.kts file.

If you look at the file’s content, you can see that the project name is “gradle” and it includes the “app” subproject:

kotlin
settings.gradle.kts
plugins {
    id("org.gradle.toolchains.foojay-resolver-convention") version "0.8.0"
}
rootProject.name = "gradle"

The src folder contains your project code.

The build.gradle.kts file that contains the project configuration:

kotlin
build.gradle.kts
plugins {
    kotlin("jvm") version "2.2.21"
}

group = "dev.xtec"
version = "1.0-SNAPSHOT"

repositories {
    mavenCentral()
}

dependencies {
    testImplementation(kotlin("test"))
}

kotlin {
    jvmToolchain(23)
}

tasks.test {
    useJUnitPlatform()
}
Note

A project can consist of more than one subproject, and each one has its own particular configuration build.gradle.kts

Build

Execute this command to run the build task:

ps
.\gradlew build
BUILD SUCCESSFUL in 4s
7 actionable tasks: 7 executed
Note

Powershell executes the gradlew.bat script even if you don’t put .bat at the end.

The first time you execute the “wrapper”, the “wrapper” downloads and caches the Gradle binaries if they are not installed on the computer.

The build task uses the source code and its dependencies to build the application.

If you execute the ls command you can see that two new folders have been created: .gradle and .kotlin.

ps
>  ls

Directory: C:\Users\david\gradle

Mode                 LastWriteTime         Length Name
----                 -------------         ------ ----
d-----         4/10/2024      8:54                .gradle
d-----         4/10/2024      8:54                .kotlin
d-----         4/10/2024      8:54                app
d-----         4/10/2024      8:51                gradle
-a----         4/10/2024      8:51            290 .gitattributes
-a----         4/10/2024      8:51            108 .gitignore
-a----         4/10/2024      8:51           8762 gradlew
-a----         4/10/2024      8:51           2966 gradlew.bat
-a----         4/10/2024      8:51            535 settings.gradle.kts

In the .gradle folder you have a local installation of Gradle that the project uses through the gradlew script.

In addition, the build task has also generated the build folder:

ps
> ls .\build\

Directory: C:\Users\david\gradle\build

Mode                 LastWriteTime         Length Name
----                 -------------         ------ ----
d-----         4/10/2024      8:23                classes
d-----         4/10/2024      8:23                distributions
d-----         4/10/2024      8:23                kotlin
d-----         4/10/2024      8:23                libs
d-----         4/10/2024      8:23                reports
d-----         4/10/2024      8:23                scripts
d-----         4/10/2024      8:23                test-results
d-----         4/10/2024      8:23                tmp

Everything generated from the code you have written is saved in this folder.

Run

Modify the build.gradle.kts file:

Apply the application plugin to add support for building a CLI application in Java.

kotlin
plugins {

    // ...
    application
}

Configure the main class:

kotlin
application {
    mainClass = "gradle.AppKt"
}

This class is at the path src/main/kotlin/gradle/App.kt

With the run task you can run the application:

ps
> .\gradlew run                   

Hello World!

BUILD SUCCESSFUL in 2s
2 actionable tasks: 1 executed, 1 up-to-date

Open the App.kt file with Windows “Notepad” and modify the file’s content:

kotlin
package gradle

fun main() {
    println("Hello World!")
}

Run the application again:

ps
gradle run
Hello World!

BUILD SUCCESSFUL in 1s

Test

Next, we are going to create a test.

Modify the AppTest.kt file that is in the folder src/test/kotlin/gradle/AppTest.kt.

Create a test that doesn’t work:

kotlin
package gradle

import kotlin.test.*

class AppTest {
    @Test fun myTest() {
         
        assertEquals(3, 5)
    }
}

With the test task, verify that it doesn’t work:

ps
gradle test
AppTest > myTest() FAILED
    org.opentest4j.AssertionFailedError at AppTest.kt:8

1 test completed, 1 failed

FAILURE: Build failed with an exception.

* What went wrong:
Execution failed for task ':app:test'.
> There were failing tests. See the report at: file:///C:/Users/david/gradle/app/build/reports/tests/test/index.html

* Try:
> Run with --scan to get full insights.

BUILD FAILED in 1s
3 actionable tasks: 1 executed, 2 up-to-date

The result is that at AppTest.kt:8 … 😮, 3 is not equal to 5 😇

Open the URL file:///... in the browser and you have a nicer “report”.

Modify the assertEquals so the test works:

Show solution
kotlin
package gradle

import kotlin.test.*

class AppTest {
    @Test
    fun myTest() {
         
        assertEquals(5, 5)
    }
}

Verify that it works:

ps
gradle test
BUILD SUCCESSFUL in 1s
3 actionable tasks: 2 executed, 1 up-to-date

Dependencies

A project needs many functionalities that are not in the standard libraries.

For example, if you want to create graphs, you can use the Kandy library.

In the build.gradle.kts file of the “app” subproject you can declare dependencies.

Modify the dependencies entry and add a dependency with “Kandy”:

kotlin
dependencies {
   
    // ...

    implementation("org.jetbrains.kotlinx:kandy-lets-plot:0.7.0")
}

Modify the App.kt file to create a bar chart:

kotlin
package gradle

import org.jetbrains.kotlinx.dataframe.api.*
import org.jetbrains.kotlinx.kandy.dsl.*
import org.jetbrains.kotlinx.kandy.letsplot.export.save
import org.jetbrains.kotlinx.kandy.letsplot.layers.bars

fun main() {
    val averageTemperature = dataFrameOf(
        "city" to listOf("New York", "London", "Berlin", "Yerevan", "Tokyo"),
        "average temperature" to listOf(12.5, 11.0, 9.6, 11.5, 16.0)
    )

    averageTemperature.plot {
        bars {
            x("city")
            y("average temperature") {
                axis.name = "Average Temperature (°C)"
            }
        }
    }.save("plot.png", path = ".")
}

Run the application:

ps
.\gradlew run
BUILD SUCCESSFUL in 3s
2 actionable tasks: 1 executed, 1 up-to-date

Open the plot.png file that has just been created.

Plugins

Gradle is structured around “plugins” that add functionality.

For example, if you want to create a distribution of your project, you have to add the application plugin.

Since at the beginning you said the project is of type kotlin-application, the plugin has already been declared in the plugins section of the build.gradle.kts file of the “app” subproject:

If you execute the distZip task to create a distribution of your project:

ps
gradle distZip
BUILD SUCCESSFUL in 2s
4 actionable tasks: 3 executed, 1 up-to-date

The file is in the path build/distributions/:

ps
 ls .\build\distributions\
    Directory: C:\Users\david\gradle\build\distributions

Mode                 LastWriteTime         Length Name
----                 -------------         ------ ----
-a----        09/10/2024     17:08        4551293 app.zip

Unzip the file in the dist folder:

ps
Expand-Archive -Path .\build\distributions\app.zip dist

You can now run the application directly:

ps
> .\dist\app\bin\app
...

And, if you remove the application plugin from the build.gradle.kts file, the distZip task will disappear:

ps
gradle distZip
Configure project : gradle
e: file:///C:/Users/ddemingo/gradle/build.gradle.kts:41:1: Expression 'application' cannot be invoked as a function. The function 'invoke()' is not found
...

Wrapper

https://docs.gradle.org/current/userguide/gradle_wrapper.html

The following command upgrades the Wrapper to the latest version:

ps
./gradlew wrapper --gradle-version latest

The following command upgrades the Wrapper to a specific version:

ps
./gradlew wrapper --gradle-version 8.11
BUILD SUCCESSFUL in 4s
1 actionable task: 1 executed

Once you have upgraded the wrapper, you can check that it’s the version you expected by executing ./gradlew --version.

Remember to run the wrapper task again to download the Gradle distribution binaries (if needed) and update the gradlew and gradlew.bat files.

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