I'd like to make two proposals on how Java compilation could be improved, based on experiences in the field.
1. First-class support for compiling with a specific JDK Many people want to compile with a specific JDK. Currently the only way to achieve this is to set `options.forkOptions.executable`. However, this means that Gradle can't use the compiler daemon and has to fall back to the command line compiler integration, which forks a new compiler for each compile task and is dead slow. Therefore I propose to add a `forkOptions.jdkHome` property that points to the JDK used to run the compiler daemon. This will significantly speed up compilation and will get more people off the command line compiler integration. 2. Default to empty source path Currently, Gradle inherits the javac behavior of defaulting the source path to the compile class path. This causes problems as soon as Jars on the compile class path contain sources, which isn't uncommon (`guava-gwt` being just one example). Most people haven't even heard about source paths and can't explain what's going on. While useful in some cases (e.g. Java-Groovy joint compilation), source paths seem to be a mostly historic feature. Therefore I propose to add an explicit `sourcepath` property that gets defaulted to the empty source path. This makes source paths an opt-in rather than an opt-out, solving a recurring pain for users. Thoughts? Cheers, Peter -- View this message in context: http://gradle.1045684.n5.nabble.com/Proposals-for-Java-compilation-improvements-tp5711609.html Sent from the gradle-dev mailing list archive at Nabble.com. --------------------------------------------------------------------- To unsubscribe from this list, please visit: http://xircles.codehaus.org/manage_email
