Gradle is an open source build system. Gradle boasts a rich API and mature ecosystem of plugins and integrations to support automation. Users can model, integrate and systematize the delivery of software from end to end.
$0
per month
Hudson CI (discontinued)
Score 4.0 out of 10
N/A
Oracle acquired and then supported Hudson Continuous Integration through 2016. Oracle no longer updates or supports Hudson. It was available free and open source under an MIT license, but it is no longer being developed, and is no longer available.
Gradle Build Tool is more suitable with the Java projects. It has helped us to automate the build part of the devops cycle. Its configuration and Groovy script is really easy to understand and can be implemented with ease. It can be used both for automation and manual buids of the projects. Gradle Build Tool is easy to use and easy to integrate.
Though it has a few setup issues, once you are done with setup it works like charm so one time setup issues won't bother. Reporting, version tracking, debugging everything is helpful and more clear and it reduces effort, in our scenario our QA team integrated their script with Hudson so that after every release it will get triggered automatically and developers will know if there is any major issue.
Gradle's methods to manipulate files is very flexible. It minimizes the amount of code one has to write to copy, move, or expand zip or tar files.
Gradle uses Groovy, which is a Java like language. This allows for most computer engineers to come up to speed fairly quickly, for writing or maintaining gradle code.
Gradle also supports DSL (Domain Specific Language), which is based on Groovy. The DSL language allows engineers to automate build jobs that otherwise could be very cumbersome to maintain or modify.
I'd like to see a way to specify how to run only certain tests in parallel, I tried this feature and for tests that involve interaction with SQL Databases sometimes I can't because of deadlocks.
Not sure if there is something else, gradle has been working really good for us and they are adding improvements all the time which is awesome. I used to think the performance is a deal but the latest versions are addressing this issue very well
The setup needs to be more user friendly, currently for first time users CI doesn't provide more guidelines.
JMeter tool can be integrated but it's not easy, user has to follow and do research before setup. A simpler way would help make the process more user friendly.
Selenium tool like JMeter can be integrated, if its Webservice it's easy but for UI automation integration not enough information is provided.
I have tried to use Gradle for projects several times in the past, but there is just so much work in maintaining the build file that it quickly becomes untenable. I have been using Maven for many years, and even though the build file can be complex, it works without maintenance between releases.
Gradle has been an excellent tool for Android development. It has helped us create multiple versions of the app for different environments. It also takes care of all the packaging needs in the background without having to write all the code related to that. It is a no brainer to use Gradle with Android applications.
[Gradle is] a more modern version of open source build tools like Ant and Maven. Whereas the build config was XML files which were tedious and error prone, the modern DSL usage of Groovy to write these build files is a great advancement. Also these config files can be inherited from top level to each associated project.
Oracle CI in terms of setup lags behind all above products, but then its use is also limited to release management so we can't really compare. Majority of organizations have dedicated team to help with CI Process so they take care of managing all jobs and setup.
In a distributed development environment, once we established a strong CI/CD model, Gradle proved to be a great choice to automate the various processes. Gradle also provides much flexibility, which is essential in today's development environment. The important benefit is that the CI/CD engineers can support development's needs quickly and reliably. This in turn supports faster testing and deployment, which generates higher ROI.