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GNU Make vs. Gradle Build Tool (Open Source)

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    Overview
    ProductRatingMost Used ByProduct SummaryStarting Price

    GNU Make

    Score7.7 out of 10
    N/AGNU Make is an open source and free build automation tool.N/A

    Gradle Build Tool (Open Source)

    Score9 out of 10
    N/AGradle is an open source build system. Gradle boasts a rich API and mature ecosystem of plugins and integrations to support automation. Users can model, integrate and systematize the delivery of software from end to end.

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    Pricing
    GNU MakeGradle Build Tool (Open Source)
    Editions & Modules
    No answers on this topic
    No answers on this topic
    Offerings
    Pricing Offerings
    GNU MakeGradle Build Tool (Open Source)
    Free Trial
    NoNo
    Free/Freemium Version
    NoYes
    Premium Consulting/Integration Services
    NoNo
    Entry-level Setup FeeNo setup feeNo setup fee
    Additional Details
    More Pricing Information
    Community Pulse
    GNU MakeGradle Build Tool (Open Source)
    Considered Both Products
    Open Source
    Chose GNU Make
    I'm a full-stack developer that has used various build tools, including Maven, Gradle, and NPM/yarn. For our C projects, I also investigated CMake and Ninja, but they seemed more difficult to learn and more tedious to work with. GNU Make is a single binary that can be easily …
    Incentivized
    Chose GNU Make
    A lot of existing projects we had been running are based on GNU Make, it does not make sense to move away from that. To build on top of those, GNU Make had been used. A lot of experienced engineers in the team are already familiar with the GNU Make syntax and structure and no …
    Incentivized
    Open Source
    No answer on this topic
    Key User Insights
    Would buy again
    No answers on this topic
    100%
    Would buy again
    7 Answers
    Delivers good value for the price
    No answers on this topic
    100%
    Delivers good value for the price
    7 Answers
    Happy with the feature set
    No answers on this topic
    100%
    Happy with the feature set
    7 Answers
    Lived up to sales and marketing promises
    No answers on this topic
    100%
    Lived up to sales and marketing promises
    5 Answers
    Implementation went as expected
    No answers on this topic
    100%
    Implementation went as expected
    7 Answers
    User Ratings
    GNU MakeGradle Build Tool (Open Source)
    Likelihood to Recommend
    7.1
    (2 ratings)
    9.0
    (12 ratings)
    Usability
    -
    (0 ratings)
    10.0
    (1 ratings)
    Performance
    -
    (0 ratings)
    3.0
    (1 ratings)
    Support Rating
    7.1
    (2 ratings)
    9.0
    (4 ratings)
    User Testimonials
    GNU MakeGradle Build Tool (Open Source)
    Likelihood to Recommend
    Open Source
    GNU Make is a great tool for simple builds where language-specific options are not available, or to provide shortcuts for common commands (e.g., "make build" as shorthand for "go build ..." with a bunch of flags). However, it is complementary to other build systems. It does not replace them, which is perhaps one of its greatest strengths as well (works with existing ecosystem instead of trying to do everything). GMU Make it simple to get started with, and the philosophy of understanding how sources map to outputs, as well as the dependency graph, are beneficial.
    Incentivized
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    Open Source
    Gradle Build Tool is more suitable with the Java projects. It has helped us to automate the build part of the devops cycle. Its configuration and Groovy script is really easy to understand and can be implemented with ease. It can be used both for automation and manual buids of the projects. Gradle Build Tool is easy to use and easy to integrate.
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    Pros
    Open Source
    • Performance and accuracy of cross-module dependencies.
    • Simple to write and easy to understand.
    Incentivized
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    Open Source
    • Gradle's methods to manipulate files is very flexible. It minimizes the amount of code one has to write to copy, move, or expand zip or tar files.
    • Gradle uses Groovy, which is a Java like language. This allows for most computer engineers to come up to speed fairly quickly, for writing or maintaining gradle code.
    • Gradle also supports DSL (Domain Specific Language), which is based on Groovy. The DSL language allows engineers to automate build jobs that otherwise could be very cumbersome to maintain or modify.
    Incentivized
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    Cons
    Open Source
    • No dependency management tools (but there are no cross-platform tools of this type anyway)
    • Tedious to do cross-compilation (Debug & Release builds, 32- and 64-bit builds, x86/ARM builds)
    Incentivized
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    Open Source
    • I'd like to see a way to specify how to run only certain tests in parallel, I tried this feature and for tests that involve interaction with SQL Databases sometimes I can't because of deadlocks.
    • Not sure if there is something else, gradle has been working really good for us and they are adding improvements all the time which is awesome. I used to think the performance is a deal but the latest versions are addressing this issue very well
    Incentivized
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    Usability
    Open Source
    No answers on this topic
    Open Source
    Gradle's language construct is good
    Incentivized
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    Performance
    Open Source
    No answers on this topic
    Open Source
    I have tried to use Gradle for projects several times in the past, but there is just so much work in maintaining the build file that it quickly becomes untenable. I have been using Maven for many years, and even though the build file can be complex, it works without maintenance between releases.
    Incentivized
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    Support Rating
    Open Source
    In general, it is fair to say the support is sufficient although we do not deal with support directly. There are a lot of forum people chiming in with suggestions or recommendations of particular usage or issues we run into. Since it is open software, patch and fixes will be available from time to time. A lot of information is available in the web now for knowing GNU Make from learning, example, teaching, etc.
    Incentivized
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    Open Source
    Gradle has been an excellent tool for Android development. It has helped us create multiple versions of the app for different environments. It also takes care of all the packaging needs in the background without having to write all the code related to that. It is a no brainer to use Gradle with Android applications.
    Incentivized
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    Alternatives Considered
    Open Source
    I'm a full-stack developer that has used various build tools, including Maven, Gradle, and NPM/yarn. For our C projects, I also investigated CMake and Ninja, but they seemed more difficult to learn and more tedious to work with. GNU Make is a single binary that can be easily downloaded, even for Windows under MingW32, is straightforward to learn, and works pretty well despite its age.
    Incentivized
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    Open Source
    [Gradle is] a more modern version of open source build tools like Ant and Maven.
    Whereas the build config was XML files which were tedious and error
    prone, the modern DSL usage of Groovy to write these build files is a
    great advancement. Also these config files can be inherited from top
    level to each associated project.
    Incentivized
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    Return on Investment
    Open Source
    • Streamline the build based on a lot of existing component being done, reusable.
    • Commonly understandable, therefore, rampup effort is small.
    Incentivized
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    Open Source
    • In a distributed development environment, once we established a strong CI/CD model, Gradle proved to be a great choice to automate the various processes. Gradle also provides much flexibility, which is essential in today's development environment. The important benefit is that the CI/CD engineers can support development's needs quickly and reliably. This in turn supports faster testing and deployment, which generates higher ROI.
    Incentivized
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