What are the benefits of using gradle or gant in a grails project

[ajukes]

Hi guys, you are privileged to receive my first ever forum post regarding grails, and programming in general.

Just wondering if someone could explain the reasons/benefits to using a build framework such as Gant or Gradle in a Grails project.

This is a complete new newby question, but I cant seem to find a clear answer.

My questions:

1. If grails handles its own build and dependencies then why would you add the complexity of a build framework.

2. What benefits does a build framework give to a simple project and/or a complicated project. (or am i missing the point?)

3. Is a build framework for handling dependencies other than the ones grails can handle

4. Could you give a simple example that would benefit a grails simple project over the standard grails build?

Thanks in advance for your patience and hand holding ;)

[pledbrook]

My questions:

1. If grails handles its own build and dependencies then why would you add the complexity of a build framework.


Good question. The main reason to use something like Gradle or Maven is if your Grails project is part of a larger set of projects that are built using Gradle's or Maven's multi-project support.

Another reason might be that your company has other tools that depend on a Maven/Ant/Gradle/Gant build.



2. What benefits does a build framework give to a simple project and/or a complicated project. (or am i missing the point?)


For a simple project, there is almost no benefit. For complex projects, multi-project or module support in the build tool can be very useful (see previous answer).



3. Is a build framework for handling dependencies other than the ones grails can handle


Not sure I understand the question, but Grails' dependency management can handle the same sorts of dependencies as Maven, Gradle, and Ivy (since it uses Ivy itself - as does Gradle).



4. Could you give a simple example that would benefit a grails simple project over the standard grails build?


No, sorry. If you can't think of a reason to use a separate build tool, then don't. Use the standard Grails command line instead.

Hope that helps,

Peter

[ajukes]

Thanks for this

Jukesie