I recently had a chance to evaluate and Gradle and I am impressed by the Groovy based scripting feature it provides. It is really possible to make sophisticated build scripts using scripting constructs like looping and if checks. The functionality to selectively disable parts of the build on the fly and make build decisions based on some condition really makes it a winner and a clear choice for Java based development. It has support for using Apache Maven and Apache Ant build scripts as well inside the Gradle build script which means current investment in Apache Ant and Apache Maven remains intact. I think I am going to give Gradle a serious try in my next project and if it performs as I hope for I am going to switch to Gradle for good.

I am die hard Apache Maven fan for all my Java based development and configuration need. In spite of all the criticism it has received over the years I have remained a staunch supporter of Maven. I delved in Apache Ant whenever I needed some extra punch in my Maven build scripts. The XML based configuration although at times felt very verbose but it did work and it was possible to write portable build scripts that worked everywhere. However if Gradle allows me to write Groovy based scripts inside my build script then I think its time to switch to Gradle.