When Hans Dockter set out to invent the Gradle Build Tool back in 2007, he had a few requirements in mind. First, Gradle had to be fast. The project was born out of the frustrations associated with the primary Java build automation tools of the time, Apache Ant and Apache Maven. Second, it had to be efficient, even for large multi-project builds, which were becoming the norm for enterprise Java applications at the time. And finally there was never any question that it needed to be open source. Gradle is built by developers, for other developers, to improve their ability to make great software for the world.

Fourteen years later, Gradle is one of the most widely used build automation tools. Over 25 million copies of the Gradle binary are downloaded a month and it’s the default build tool in the Android Studio SDK. Support for the tool has grown well beyond Java to other JVM-related platforms like Kotlin and Scala, and can even be extended to build projects written in non-JVM languages like Python and Javascript.

OSS projects standardizing on Gradle Build Tool & Gradle Enterprise

As an open source tool, it should come as no surprise that Gradle is used to build a large number of open source projects. A search for build.gradle in the root folder of GitHub projects currently yields over 4 million results.

Many of these projects are among the most important and prominent in the world. Apache Kafka, LinkedIn’s polyglot data streaming project, which includes code written in Java, Scala, and Python, uses Gradle to greatly simplify the build process. Apache Cassandra, conceived of by Facebook and now one of the fastest open source NoSQL solutions available, uses the complementary Gradle Enterprise solution to accelerate feedback cycle times in the build process considerably. The ubiquitous Red-Hat-backed Hibernate ORM library benefits from both the Gradle build tool and the Gradle Enterprise acceleration and performance and failure trend observation technologies.

That’s just scraping the surface! Spring Framework, which is used to build millions of JVM ecosystem projects, is built with Gradle and takes advantage of Gradle Enterprise. The ever-popular JVM language Groovy can not only be used to write Gradle Build Scripts, but is also built with Gradle, and takes advantage of Gradle’s parallel build features and caching. The list is long and evergreen, with new Gradle projects being born daily.

We also have a program we call “Revved Up By Gradle” where certain strategic OSS projects can benefit from our Gradle Enterprise tooling for free. If you’ve got a project you think could be a fit for this, we’d love to discuss that with you at the show. We showcase these projects here, if you are curious as to who is already participating: https://gradle.com/enterprise-customers/oss-projects/

Gradle Inc. is Presenting and Exhibiting at ATO 2021

All Things Open has selected two of our talks. The first is on the competing open source FluentD and Logstash technologies. I’ll be breaking down both of these logging and event solutions and showing you which fit best into particular use cases. Then, Sterling Greene, Lead Software Engineer for the Gradle Build Tool development team, and I will be co-presenting on Developer Productivity Engineering (DPE) and how Gradle Enterprise is emerging as a key enabling technology for this new practice.

We’re excited to share these talks with you and get your feedback and equally humbled by the many other insightful speakers and interesting topics we see on the list. Even if you don’t recognize many of the luminaries on the agenda by name, there’s a good chance you’ve run their code, read their blogs, or taken their courses.

Whether you make it to one of our presentations or not, please come see us at our exhibition booth. We’ll be inhabiting the booth space in front of the Data 1 room in the right corridor of the 3rd floor. We’ll have a very large space around the corner from the Major League Hacking Lounge, and you’ll be able to use our Gradle Enterprise technology for free to speed up and analyze your Maven or Gradle builds. We call this our Gradle Speed Challenge, and you’ll get a nice Gradle swag kit just for participating. From what I understand, these kits include the popular Gradlephant t-shirt and some very fancy socks, so be sure not to miss out!

My parting thoughts on ATO 2021

Given our deep roots in the open-source community and its participants, contributors, and promoters, it is only natural that we sponsor All Things Open 2021. I’ve attended ATO and its companion Open Source 101 event every year since 2018, and it remains my favorite open source community event. Even as Covid-19 limited the kinds of interactions we could have, ATO’s 2020 virtual event still managed to capture the spirit of open development and community collaboration. I’ve gotten to know many of the event staff and coordinators over the years including the ever-dedicated team of Todd Lewis, Danny Perez-Caballero, and Jennifer Suber, who pour every ounce of their heart and energy into this annual gathering.

Thanks All Things Open for all the effort involved in making this event happen in a safe manner, we know what a feat that was to pull off, and I’m sure we all agree that it’s going to be a fantastic event. I can’t wait for that much needed jolt of conference energy, a feeling many of us may have come close to forgetting over the last couple of years. Don’t miss the chance to come by our booth, try out our tech, and stock up on Gradle swag!

The Featured Blog Posts series will highlight posts from partners and members of the All Things Open community leading up to the conference in October.