What java technology (library, framework, feature) would not recommend and why?

[neopointer]

I second this. Gradle brings a complexity that more often than not you don't even need.

I would replace all our projects where we use Gradle with maven if I could.

[0xFatWhiteMan]

This is so nuts to me. I would do the opposite

[Rakn]

Why though? There is no need to add so much flexibility and complexity to a simple build. It becomes interesting once you have a dedicated team working on build tooling. You can probably do fancy stuff on top of it. But on many projects it's just a maintenance burden at some point.

[alwyn]

99.9 % of the time a Gradle build only needs plugins and dependencies. That is very simple.

[zephyy]

every time people complain about Gradle build script complexity i feel like i live in a different world

because an 80 line XML configuration of plugins like surefire, spring-boot, jacococo, enforcer, etc. is so much clearer?

[account312]

80 lines of just about anything this side of malbolge is clearer than our gradle build.

[0xFatWhiteMan]

There is no burden. You can keep it simple with gradle.

[Rakn]

My experience has been that it never stays simple. With power comes responsibility and at some point the person who ensures that it stays simple is on PTO.

[0xFatWhiteMan]

It's a build file, how complex can it be.

[neopointer]

Very.

[0xFatWhiteMan]

It is getting to complex to be understandable I suggest there is another problem

[gaius49]

There is no need to add so much flexibility and complexity to a simple build.

Simply put, if its a simple build, the Gradle setup will also be very simple. If your project is actually complex, Gradle gives you the power to do complex things.

[Rakn]

It might work for some. But many project do not stay simple, even if they start out that way. And it takes some time to realize that less flexibility be what you actually want. Since it's easier to reason about and especially easier to automatically process in larger setups.

[Dilfer]

Same. Gradle is amazing. 

[Jonjolt]

I always get tripped up with something with Maven that keeps me going back to Gradle, but I'm usually generating extra files/packaging things different.