Writing Build Scripts

This chapter looks at some of the details of writing a build script.

The Gradle build language

Gradle provides a domain specific language, or DSL, for describing builds. This build language is available in Groovy and Kotlin.

A Groovy build script can contain any Groovy language element.^[1] A Kotlin build script can contain any Kotlin language element. Gradle assumes that each build script is encoded using UTF-8.

Build scripts describe your build by configuring projects. A project is an abstract concept, but you typically map a Gradle project to a software component that needs to be built, like a library or an application. Each build script you have is associated with an object of type Project and as the build script executes, it configures this Project.

In fact, almost all top-level properties and blocks in a build script are part of the Project API. To demonstrate, take a look at this example build script that prints the name of its project, which is accessed via the Project.name property:

Example 1. Accessing property of the Project object

GroovyKotlin

build.gradle

println name
println project.name

Output of gradle -q check

> gradle -q check
projectApi
projectApi

Both println statements print out the same property. The first uses the top-level reference to the name property of the Project object. The other statement uses the project property available to any build script, which returns the associated Project object. Only if you define a property or a method which has the same name as a member of the Project object, would you need to use the project property.

Standard project properties

The Project object provides some standard properties, which are available in your build script. The following table lists a few of the commonly used ones.

Table 1. Project Properties
Name	Type	Default Value
`project`	Project	The `Project` instance
`name`	`String`	The name of the project directory.
`path`	`String`	The absolute path of the project.
`description`	`String`	A description for the project.
`projectDir`	`File`	The directory containing the build script.
`buildDir`	`File`	`projectDir/build`
`group`	`Object`	`unspecified`
`version`	`Object`	`unspecified`
`ant`	AntBuilder	An `AntBuilder` instance

❗️	Script with other targets The build scripts described here target `Project` objects. There are also settings scripts and init scripts that respectively target Settings and Gradle objects.

The script API

When Gradle executes a Groovy build script (.gradle), it compiles the script into a class which implements Script. This means that all of the properties and methods declared by the Script interface are available in your script.

When Gradle executes a Kotlin build script (.gradle.kts), it compiles the script into a subclass of KotlinBuildScript. This means that all of the visible properties and functions declared by the KotlinBuildScript type are available in your script. Also see the KotlinSettingsScript and KotlinInitScript types respectively for settings scripts and init scripts.

Declaring variables

There are two kinds of variables that can be declared in a build script: local variables and extra properties.

Local variables

Local variables are declared with the def keyword. They are only visible in the scope where they have been declared. Local variables are a feature of the underlying Groovy language.

Example 2. Using local variables

GroovyKotlin

build.gradle

def dest = "dest"

task copy(type: Copy) {
    from "source"
    into dest
}

Extra properties

All enhanced objects in Gradle’s domain model can hold extra user-defined properties. This includes, but is not limited to, projects, tasks, and source sets.

Extra properties can be added, read and set via the owning object’s ext property. Alternatively, an ext block can be used to add multiple properties at once.

Example 3. Using extra properties

GroovyKotlin

build.gradle

plugins {
    id 'java'
}

ext {
    springVersion = "3.1.0.RELEASE"
    emailNotification = "build@master.org"
}

sourceSets.all { ext.purpose = null }

sourceSets {
    main {
        purpose = "production"
    }
    test {
        purpose = "test"
    }
    plugin {
        purpose = "production"
    }
}

task printProperties {
    doLast {
        println springVersion
        println emailNotification
        sourceSets.matching { it.purpose == "production" }.each { println it.name }
    }
}

build.gradle.kts

plugins {
    java
}

val springVersion by extra("3.1.0.RELEASE")
val emailNotification by extra { "build@master.org" }

sourceSets.all { extra["purpose"] = null }

sourceSets {
    main {
        extra["purpose"] = "production"
    }
    test {
        extra["purpose"] = "test"
    }
    create("plugin") {
        extra["purpose"] = "production"
    }
}

tasks.register("printProperties") {
    doLast {
        println(springVersion)
        println(emailNotification)
        sourceSets.matching { it.extra["purpose"] == "production" }.forEach { println(it.name) }
    }
}

Output of gradle -q printProperties

> gradle -q printProperties
3.1.0.RELEASE
build@master.org
main
plugin

In this example, an ext block adds two extra properties to the project object. Additionally, a property named purpose is added to each source set by setting ext.purpose to null (null is a permissible value). Once the properties have been added, they can be read and set like predefined properties.

By requiring special syntax for adding a property, Gradle can fail fast when an attempt is made to set a (predefined or extra) property but the property is misspelled or does not exist. Extra properties can be accessed from anywhere their owning object can be accessed, giving them a wider scope than local variables. Extra properties on a project are visible from its subprojects.

For further details on extra properties and their API, see the ExtraPropertiesExtension class in the API documentation.

Configuring arbitrary objects

You can configure arbitrary objects in the following very readable way.

Example 4. Configuring arbitrary objects

GroovyKotlin

build.gradle

import java.text.FieldPosition

task configure {
    doLast {
        def pos = configure(new FieldPosition(10)) {
            beginIndex = 1
            endIndex = 5
        }
        println pos.beginIndex
        println pos.endIndex
    }
}

build.gradle.kts

import java.text.FieldPosition

tasks.register("configure") {
    doLast {
        val pos = FieldPosition(10).apply {
            beginIndex = 1
            endIndex = 5
        }
        println(pos.beginIndex)
        println(pos.endIndex)
    }
}

Output of gradle -q configure

> gradle -q configure
1
5

Configuring arbitrary objects using an external script

You can also configure arbitrary objects using an external script.

⚠	Only supported from a Groovy script Configuring arbitrary objects using an external script is not yet supported by the Kotlin DSL. See gradle/kotlin-dsl#659 for more information.

Example 5. Configuring arbitrary objects using a script

build.gradle

task configure {
    doLast {
        def pos = new java.text.FieldPosition(10)
        // Apply the script
        apply from: 'other.gradle', to: pos
        println pos.beginIndex
        println pos.endIndex
    }
}

other.gradle

// Set properties.
beginIndex = 1
endIndex = 5

Output of gradle -q configure

> gradle -q configure
1
5

Some Groovy basics

💡	Looking for some Kotlin basics, the Kotlin reference documentation and Kotlin Koans should be useful to you.

The Groovy language provides plenty of features for creating DSLs, and the Gradle build language takes advantage of these. Understanding how the build language works will help you when you write your build script, and in particular, when you start to write custom plugins and tasks.

Groovy JDK

Groovy adds lots of useful methods to the standard Java classes. For example, Iterable gets an each method, which iterates over the elements of the Iterable:

Example 6. Groovy JDK methods

build.gradle

// Iterable gets an each() method
configurations.runtime.each { File f -> println f }

Have a look at http://groovy-lang.org/gdk.html for more details.

Property accessors

Groovy automatically converts a property reference into a call to the appropriate getter or setter method.

Example 7. Property accessors

build.gradle

// Using a getter method
println project.buildDir
println getProject().getBuildDir()

// Using a setter method
project.buildDir = 'target'
getProject().setBuildDir('target')

Optional parentheses on method calls

Parentheses are optional for method calls.

Example 8. Method call without parentheses

build.gradle

test.systemProperty 'some.prop', 'value'
test.systemProperty('some.prop', 'value')

List and map literals

Groovy provides some shortcuts for defining List and Map instances. Both kinds of literals are straightforward, but map literals have some interesting twists.

For instance, the “apply” method (where you typically apply plugins) actually takes a map parameter. However, when you have a line like “apply plugin:'java'”, you aren’t actually using a map literal, you’re actually using “named parameters”, which have almost exactly the same syntax as a map literal (without the wrapping brackets). That named parameter list gets converted to a map when the method is called, but it doesn’t start out as a map.

Example 9. List and map literals

build.gradle

// List literal
test.includes = ['org/gradle/api/**', 'org/gradle/internal/**']

List<String> list = new ArrayList<String>()
list.add('org/gradle/api/**')
list.add('org/gradle/internal/**')
test.includes = list

// Map literal.
Map<String, String> map = [key1:'value1', key2: 'value2']

// Groovy will coerce named arguments
// into a single map argument
apply plugin: 'java'

Closures as the last parameter in a method

The Gradle DSL uses closures in many places. You can find out more about closures here. When the last parameter of a method is a closure, you can place the closure after the method call:

Example 10. Closure as method parameter

build.gradle

repositories {
    println "in a closure"
}
repositories() { println "in a closure" }
repositories({ println "in a closure" })

Closure delegate

Each closure has a delegate object, which Groovy uses to look up variable and method references which are not local variables or parameters of the closure. Gradle uses this for configuration closures, where the delegate object is set to the object to be configured.

Example 11. Closure delegates

build.gradle

dependencies {
    assert delegate == project.dependencies
    testCompile('junit:junit:4.12')
    delegate.testCompile('junit:junit:4.12')
}

Default imports

To make build scripts more concise, Gradle automatically adds a set of import statements to the Gradle scripts. This means that instead of using throw new org.gradle.api.tasks.StopExecutionException() you can just type throw new StopExecutionException() instead.

Listed below are the imports added to each script:

Gradle default imports

import org.gradle.*
import org.gradle.api.*
import org.gradle.api.artifacts.*
import org.gradle.api.artifacts.component.*
import org.gradle.api.artifacts.dsl.*
import org.gradle.api.artifacts.ivy.*
import org.gradle.api.artifacts.maven.*
import org.gradle.api.artifacts.query.*
import org.gradle.api.artifacts.repositories.*
import org.gradle.api.artifacts.result.*
import org.gradle.api.artifacts.transform.*
import org.gradle.api.artifacts.type.*
import org.gradle.api.attributes.*
import org.gradle.api.attributes.java.*
import org.gradle.api.capabilities.*
import org.gradle.api.component.*
import org.gradle.api.credentials.*
import org.gradle.api.distribution.*
import org.gradle.api.distribution.plugins.*
import org.gradle.api.dsl.*
import org.gradle.api.execution.*
import org.gradle.api.file.*
import org.gradle.api.initialization.*
import org.gradle.api.initialization.definition.*
import org.gradle.api.initialization.dsl.*
import org.gradle.api.invocation.*
import org.gradle.api.java.archives.*
import org.gradle.api.logging.*
import org.gradle.api.logging.configuration.*
import org.gradle.api.model.*
import org.gradle.api.plugins.*
import org.gradle.api.plugins.announce.*
import org.gradle.api.plugins.antlr.*
import org.gradle.api.plugins.buildcomparison.gradle.*
import org.gradle.api.plugins.osgi.*
import org.gradle.api.plugins.quality.*
import org.gradle.api.plugins.scala.*
import org.gradle.api.provider.*
import org.gradle.api.publish.*
import org.gradle.api.publish.ivy.*
import org.gradle.api.publish.ivy.plugins.*
import org.gradle.api.publish.ivy.tasks.*
import org.gradle.api.publish.maven.*
import org.gradle.api.publish.maven.plugins.*
import org.gradle.api.publish.maven.tasks.*
import org.gradle.api.publish.plugins.*
import org.gradle.api.publish.tasks.*
import org.gradle.api.reflect.*
import org.gradle.api.reporting.*
import org.gradle.api.reporting.components.*
import org.gradle.api.reporting.dependencies.*
import org.gradle.api.reporting.dependents.*
import org.gradle.api.reporting.model.*
import org.gradle.api.reporting.plugins.*
import org.gradle.api.resources.*
import org.gradle.api.specs.*
import org.gradle.api.tasks.*
import org.gradle.api.tasks.ant.*
import org.gradle.api.tasks.application.*
import org.gradle.api.tasks.bundling.*
import org.gradle.api.tasks.compile.*
import org.gradle.api.tasks.diagnostics.*
import org.gradle.api.tasks.incremental.*
import org.gradle.api.tasks.javadoc.*
import org.gradle.api.tasks.options.*
import org.gradle.api.tasks.scala.*
import org.gradle.api.tasks.testing.*
import org.gradle.api.tasks.testing.junit.*
import org.gradle.api.tasks.testing.junitplatform.*
import org.gradle.api.tasks.testing.testng.*
import org.gradle.api.tasks.util.*
import org.gradle.api.tasks.wrapper.*
import org.gradle.authentication.*
import org.gradle.authentication.aws.*
import org.gradle.authentication.http.*
import org.gradle.buildinit.plugins.*
import org.gradle.buildinit.tasks.*
import org.gradle.caching.*
import org.gradle.caching.configuration.*
import org.gradle.caching.http.*
import org.gradle.caching.local.*
import org.gradle.concurrent.*
import org.gradle.external.javadoc.*
import org.gradle.ide.visualstudio.*
import org.gradle.ide.visualstudio.plugins.*
import org.gradle.ide.visualstudio.tasks.*
import org.gradle.ide.xcode.*
import org.gradle.ide.xcode.plugins.*
import org.gradle.ide.xcode.tasks.*
import org.gradle.ivy.*
import org.gradle.jvm.*
import org.gradle.jvm.application.scripts.*
import org.gradle.jvm.application.tasks.*
import org.gradle.jvm.platform.*
import org.gradle.jvm.plugins.*
import org.gradle.jvm.tasks.*
import org.gradle.jvm.tasks.api.*
import org.gradle.jvm.test.*
import org.gradle.jvm.toolchain.*
import org.gradle.language.*
import org.gradle.language.assembler.*
import org.gradle.language.assembler.plugins.*
import org.gradle.language.assembler.tasks.*
import org.gradle.language.base.*
import org.gradle.language.base.artifact.*
import org.gradle.language.base.compile.*
import org.gradle.language.base.plugins.*
import org.gradle.language.base.sources.*
import org.gradle.language.c.*
import org.gradle.language.c.plugins.*
import org.gradle.language.c.tasks.*
import org.gradle.language.coffeescript.*
import org.gradle.language.cpp.*
import org.gradle.language.cpp.plugins.*
import org.gradle.language.cpp.tasks.*
import org.gradle.language.java.*
import org.gradle.language.java.artifact.*
import org.gradle.language.java.plugins.*
import org.gradle.language.java.tasks.*
import org.gradle.language.javascript.*
import org.gradle.language.jvm.*
import org.gradle.language.jvm.plugins.*
import org.gradle.language.jvm.tasks.*
import org.gradle.language.nativeplatform.*
import org.gradle.language.nativeplatform.tasks.*
import org.gradle.language.objectivec.*
import org.gradle.language.objectivec.plugins.*
import org.gradle.language.objectivec.tasks.*
import org.gradle.language.objectivecpp.*
import org.gradle.language.objectivecpp.plugins.*
import org.gradle.language.objectivecpp.tasks.*
import org.gradle.language.plugins.*
import org.gradle.language.rc.*
import org.gradle.language.rc.plugins.*
import org.gradle.language.rc.tasks.*
import org.gradle.language.routes.*
import org.gradle.language.scala.*
import org.gradle.language.scala.plugins.*
import org.gradle.language.scala.tasks.*
import org.gradle.language.scala.toolchain.*
import org.gradle.language.swift.*
import org.gradle.language.swift.plugins.*
import org.gradle.language.swift.tasks.*
import org.gradle.language.twirl.*
import org.gradle.maven.*
import org.gradle.model.*
import org.gradle.nativeplatform.*
import org.gradle.nativeplatform.platform.*
import org.gradle.nativeplatform.plugins.*
import org.gradle.nativeplatform.tasks.*
import org.gradle.nativeplatform.test.*
import org.gradle.nativeplatform.test.cpp.*
import org.gradle.nativeplatform.test.cpp.plugins.*
import org.gradle.nativeplatform.test.cunit.*
import org.gradle.nativeplatform.test.cunit.plugins.*
import org.gradle.nativeplatform.test.cunit.tasks.*
import org.gradle.nativeplatform.test.googletest.*
import org.gradle.nativeplatform.test.googletest.plugins.*
import org.gradle.nativeplatform.test.plugins.*
import org.gradle.nativeplatform.test.tasks.*
import org.gradle.nativeplatform.test.xctest.*
import org.gradle.nativeplatform.test.xctest.plugins.*
import org.gradle.nativeplatform.test.xctest.tasks.*
import org.gradle.nativeplatform.toolchain.*
import org.gradle.nativeplatform.toolchain.plugins.*
import org.gradle.normalization.*
import org.gradle.platform.base.*
import org.gradle.platform.base.binary.*
import org.gradle.platform.base.component.*
import org.gradle.platform.base.plugins.*
import org.gradle.play.*
import org.gradle.play.distribution.*
import org.gradle.play.platform.*
import org.gradle.play.plugins.*
import org.gradle.play.plugins.ide.*
import org.gradle.play.tasks.*
import org.gradle.play.toolchain.*
import org.gradle.plugin.devel.*
import org.gradle.plugin.devel.plugins.*
import org.gradle.plugin.devel.tasks.*
import org.gradle.plugin.management.*
import org.gradle.plugin.use.*
import org.gradle.plugins.ear.*
import org.gradle.plugins.ear.descriptor.*
import org.gradle.plugins.ide.*
import org.gradle.plugins.ide.api.*
import org.gradle.plugins.ide.eclipse.*
import org.gradle.plugins.ide.idea.*
import org.gradle.plugins.javascript.base.*
import org.gradle.plugins.javascript.coffeescript.*
import org.gradle.plugins.javascript.envjs.*
import org.gradle.plugins.javascript.envjs.browser.*
import org.gradle.plugins.javascript.envjs.http.*
import org.gradle.plugins.javascript.envjs.http.simple.*
import org.gradle.plugins.javascript.jshint.*
import org.gradle.plugins.javascript.rhino.*
import org.gradle.plugins.signing.*
import org.gradle.plugins.signing.signatory.*
import org.gradle.plugins.signing.signatory.pgp.*
import org.gradle.plugins.signing.type.*
import org.gradle.plugins.signing.type.pgp.*
import org.gradle.process.*
import org.gradle.swiftpm.*
import org.gradle.swiftpm.plugins.*
import org.gradle.swiftpm.tasks.*
import org.gradle.testing.base.*
import org.gradle.testing.base.plugins.*
import org.gradle.testing.jacoco.plugins.*
import org.gradle.testing.jacoco.tasks.*
import org.gradle.testing.jacoco.tasks.rules.*
import org.gradle.testkit.runner.*
import org.gradle.vcs.*
import org.gradle.vcs.git.*
import org.gradle.work.*
import org.gradle.workers.*

1. Any language element except for statement labels.