Gradle always does println from any task

Question

I have simple build.gradle (or any build.gradle with task that has println)

println GradleVersion.current().prettyPrint()

task task1{
    println 'task1 starting'
}

Now when I run $ gradle build I always see tasks executing or print output

task1 starting
:compileJava UP-TO-DATE
:processResources UP-TO-DATE
:classes UP-TO-DATE
:jar
:assemble
:compileTestJava UP-TO-DATE
:processTestResources UP-TO-DATE
:testClasses UP-TO-DATE
:test UP-TO-DATE
:check UP-TO-DATE
:build

BUILD SUCCESSFUL

Total time: 1.291 secs

Why there is always output from println inside tasks?

Sedum

Duplicate: Gradle println prints when it is not called – Filter

it appears to me that both questions are asking "Why is println ALWAYS printing?". The goals of the questions are different, however the underlying question is about the same Gradle behavior. I do not think either question should be closed as a duplicate, but I think any subsequent readers will benefit from cross-linking in the comments. – Filter

Answer 1

If You have the following piece of code:

task task1 {
    println 'task1 starting'
}

You're in configuration phase of a task. This phase is run during script evaluation. If You'd like to print something while task is executed You need to add an action for task.

It looks like:

task task1 << {
   println 'task1 action'
}

This piece of code will be evaluated while the task is being run. << is exactly the same as invoking doLast method on Task's object. You can add many actions.

EDIT I also highly encourage you to read this blog post.

Aga

Answer 2

from Chapter 55. The Build Lifecycle http://www.gradle.org/docs/current/userguide/build_lifecycle.html

// in `settings.gradle`
// println 'This is executed during the initialization phase.'

println 'This is executed during the configuration phase.'

task configure {
    println 'This is also executed during the configuration phase.'
}

task execute << {
    println 'This is executed during the execution phase.'
}

run with gradle help

output:

This is executed during the initialization phase.
This is executed during the configuration phase.
This is also executed during the configuration phase.
:help

Welcome to Gradle 1.10.

To run a build, run gradle <task> ...

To see a list of available tasks, run gradle tasks

To see a list of command-line options, run gradle --help

BUILD SUCCESSFUL

Total time: 1.882 secs

Sedum