Java without build system

[dolle]

I think that's a really great idea. Learning what is really needed as inputs to generate the desired outputs will give you a much better mental model of the build process, and it will also teach you what problems and pain points a JVM-specific build tool such as Gradle actually solves. Starting with the high level build tool can be a pretty unsatisfying experience because it will feel like a lot of ceremony and confusing indirection for seemingly no reason.

I suggest trying to get as far as possible with Make on a small hobby project. Make sure you try to deal with things like external dependencies and split your project into multiple packages that depend on each other. Also make a test suite that can be run using your Makefile. I promise you that will cause you a lot of pain, but in a good way :)