Gradle vs. Gant

Question

I'm working on a Linux/Apache/MySQL/Grails application and have the choice of build tools. I'm looking at Gradle or Gant. They look very similar to me, so I'm not sure what differentiates them.

What are the major differences between Gradle and Gant that would make me pick one over the other?

Kistna

Answer 1

The main difference is that Gant is a build tool, while Gradle is a project management tool (from the dev/ops standpoint).
So Gradle, compared to Gant, comes "battery included", because it allows you to easily use plugins, manage dependencies, has a complete, hookable, lifecycle, etc...
It is a bit like comparing Ant and Maven, stricly looking on the Java side.

Unipod

gradle a "project management tool"??? I'd rather say it's a build system or build framework compared to gant being a build script language – Fog

Answer 2

The major reasons you would likely pick Gradle over Gant:

1. The functionality of Gant is a subset of Gradle. (basically a groovy wrapper around ANT)
2. Gant is built with Gradle

Beyond that Gradle has a plugin architecture, is DSL based, integrates with Maven and Ivy and has true incremental builds. Gant was a valuable innovation in its time, the lessons of which are in Gradle.

Warfeld

Answer 3

Grails already comes with a build system included, so you don't need to do anything. At the moment it is based on Gant scripts, but a switch to Gradle is on the roadmap for Grails 2.0.

Gladine

But on a general basis, I would choose Gradle over Gant anytime – Gladine

It looks like they changed the roadmap as 'Update Build System To Use Gradle' is planned for Grails 3.0 and target date is 2013 :( – Wound

Yes, unfortunately. Grails 1.4 was actually renamed to 2.0, so I think the 2.0 version that Gradle was scheduled for, is now known as 2.5. But 'Update Build System To Use Gradle' has even been pushed further down the road to 3.0 :( – Gladine