Gradle Best Practices

Description

Gradle has now published a list of best practices. Several of these are already covered with existing recipes, but it would be good to improve the recipe coverage for aspects that are missing.

General Best Practices

• Use Kotlin DSL (build.gradle.kts over build.gradle) - https://docs.gradle.org/current/userguide/best_practices_general.html#use_kotlin_dsl
• Use the latest minor version of Gradle - https://docs.gradle.org/current/userguide/best_practices_general.html#use_the_latest_minor_version_of_gradle
• Apply plugins using the plugins block instead of buildscript classpath - https://docs.gradle.org/current/userguide/best_practices_general.html#apply_plugins_using_the_plugins_block
• Do not use internal Gradle APIs - https://docs.gradle.org/current/userguide/best_practices_general.html#do_not_use_internal_apis
• Set build flags in gradle.properties instead of command-line arguments - https://docs.gradle.org/current/userguide/best_practices_general.html#set_build_flags_in_gradle_properties
• Name your root project in settings.gradle(.kts) - https://docs.gradle.org/current/userguide/best_practices_general.html#name_your_root_project
• Do not use gradle.properties in subprojects - https://docs.gradle.org/current/userguide/best_practices_general.html#do_not_use_gradle_properties_in_subprojects

Dependencies Best Practices

• Use version catalogs to centralize dependency versions - https://docs.gradle.org/current/userguide/best_practices_dependencies.html#use_version_catalogs_to_centralize_dependency_versions
• Name version catalog entries appropriately (dashes as separators, camelCase for internal dashes) - https://docs.gradle.org/current/userguide/best_practices_dependencies.html#name_version_catalog_entries_appropriately
• Set up dependency repositories in the settings file - https://docs.gradle.org/current/userguide/best_practices_dependencies.html#set_up_dependency_repositories_in_the_settings_file
• Don't explicitly depend on the Kotlin standard library - https://docs.gradle.org/current/userguide/best_practices_dependencies.html#dont_explicitly_depend_on_the_kotlin_standard_library
• Avoid redundant dependency declarations - https://docs.gradle.org/current/userguide/best_practices_dependencies.html#avoid_redundant_dependency_declarations
• Declare dependencies using single GAV string notation - https://docs.gradle.org/current/userguide/best_practices_dependencies.html#declare_dependencies_using_single_gav_string_notation

Tasks Best Practices

• Avoid dependsOn - use task inputs/outputs instead (already covered by https://github.com/openrewrite/rewrite/issues/5333) - https://docs.gradle.org/current/userguide/best_practices_tasks.html#avoid_dependson
• Favor cacheability annotations (@CacheableTask) over cacheIf()/doNotCacheIf() - https://docs.gradle.org/current/userguide/best_practices_tasks.html#favor_cacheability_annotations
• Group and describe custom tasks - https://docs.gradle.org/current/userguide/best_practices_tasks.html#group_and_describe_custom_tasks

Performance Best Practices

• Use UTF-8 file encoding (org.gradle.jvmargs=-Dfile.encoding=UTF-8) - https://docs.gradle.org/current/userguide/best_practices_performance.html#use_utf_8_file_encoding

Start by reviewing the Gradle best-practices pages linked in the issue and the repository's existing recipe coverage. Check issue #5333 for the already-covered dependsOn item, then identify which remaining practices have no recipe. Done means adding focused coverage for agreed missing practices without duplicating existing recipes.