polyglot-maven

Because Maven (the tool) offers XML as the language, we can put any other language atop it, e.g. with https://github.com/takari/polyglot-maven we can use Clojure, Groovy, Ruby, or Scala as the language. Gradle offers only Groovy, nothing else, so we don't have any choice over how to interact with the build API.

> Android Studio and the Gradle plugin are really, really coming along Too bad Gradle only allows us to use one language (i.e. Groovy) to configure the builds. Because Maven uses generic XML, any language can sit atop it. E.g. Polyglot Maven [1] not only allows us to use Groovy, but also Clojure, Scala, and Ruby to configure its builds. [1] https://github.com/takari/polyglot-maven

"Groovy" isn't mentioned even once on this page. Are the Gradle people embarrassed about their sole offering of Groovy for the build DSL? Because Maven uses XML, any programming language can sit on top and be used as a configuration DSL. https://github.com/takari/polyglot-maven not only offers Groovy, but also Clojure, Scala, and Ruby.

> Will Groovy survive outside of Gradle? It might not survive even inside of Gradle. As Gradle becomes more popular, I can't imagine Groovy remaining the only scripting language available for Gradle build scripts. Virtually all serious software offers a choice of scripting languages for configuration, e.g. Maven which can be configured not only with Groovy but also Clojure, Scala, and Ruby, see https://github.com/takari/polyglot-maven . Gradle 2.0 has virtually no Groovy code in its codebase, only what was essential for hosting Groovy for build scripts, so that might give a clue about their future intentions. One snag may be the retrenched Groovy programmer employed by Gradleware after VMware/Pivotal abandoned Groovy: he might sabotage any effort by Gradleware to diversify from Groovy as a scripting language for Gradle builds.

I think that calling something verbose and unreadable is an oxymoron. XML is very explicit about what each field is labeled. Having an XSD means you always know what field is available where and what type of values are permitted. BUT, if you're still not happy, there's always polyglot maven[1] [1] https://github.com/takari/polyglot-maven

This was submitted 2 weeks ago with a comment here: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=9603867 My question in the comment was how we distinguish between needing and not needing an equals sign in the Gradle DSL, such as in the example given... testdroid { username "account@email.com" password "password" deviceGroup "MyTestDevices" cloudUrl = 'https://cloud.testdroid.com' // <<<<<<<<<<<<<< WHY THE = SIGN HERE ? projectName "Project 1" mode "FULL_RUN" testRunName "Custom test run name" deviceLanguageCode "en-US" hookUrl "http://localhost:9080" scheduler "PARALLEL" testScreenshotDir = "/sdcard/abc" // <<<<<<<<<<<<<< WHY THE = SIGN HERE ? appCrawlerConfig{ applicationPassword = "appPassword2" // <<<<<<<<<<<<<< WHY THE = SIGN FOR THESE ? appl

If you don't like XML but don't want to switch to Gradle, you could use another language atop Maven: https://github.com/takari/polyglot-maven