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copied!<p>Gradle can be used for many purposes - it's a much better Swiss army knife than Ant - but it's specifically focused on multi-project builds.</p> <p>First of all, Gradle is a dependency programming tool which also means it's a programming tool. With Gradle you can execute any random task in your setup and Gradle will make sure all declared dependecies are properly and timely executed. Your code can be spread across many directories in any kind of layout (tree, flat, scattered, ...).</p> <p>Gradle has two distinct phases: evaluation and execution. Basically, during evaluation Gradle will look for and evaluate build scripts in the directories it is supposed to look. During execution Gradle will execute tasks which have been loaded during evaluation taking into account task inter-dependencies.</p> <p>On top of these dependency programming features Gradle adds project and JAR dependency features by intergration with Apache Ivy. As you know Ivy is a much more powerful and much less opinionated dependency management tool than say Maven.</p> <p>Gradle detects dependencies between projects and between projects and JARs. Gradle works with Maven repositories (download and upload) like the iBiblio one or your own repositories but also supports and other kind of repository infrastructure you might have.</p> <p>In multi-project builds Gradle is both adaptable and adapts to the build's structure and architecture. You don't have to adapt your structure or architecture to your build tool as would be required with Maven.</p> <p>Gradle tries very hard not to get in your way, an effort Maven almost never makes. Convention is good yet so is flexibility. Gradle gives you many more features than Maven does but most importantly in many cases Gradle will offer you a painless transition path away from Maven.</p>

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