Ch 4: Gradle Build

Question 1

The major Gradle Files

Answer 1

• Project Scoped Settings file:
  
  • settings.gradle
  • defines which modules should be included when building your application
• Project Scoped Build file:
  
  • build.gradle (Project: * )
  • Specifies the repositories and dependencies for Gradle itself
  • Also specifies any repositories and dependencies common to all modules
• Module Scoped Build file:
  
  • build.gradle( Module: * )
  • Configure build settings for the application
  • Includes:
    
    • dependencies
    • minimum and target platform versions
    • application version information
    • multiple build types and product flavors

Question 2

The major Gradle Files:

Project Scoped Settings File

Answer 2

• Project Scoped Settings file:
  
  • settings.gradle
  • defines which modules should be included when building your application
• Includes your single application module by default:
  
  • include ‘:app’

Question 3

The major Gradle Files:

Project Scoped Build File

Answer 3

• build.gradle (Project: * )
• Specifies the repositories and dependencies for Gradle itself
• Also specifies any repositories and dependencies common to all modules
  *

Question 4

The major Gradle Files:

Module Scoped Build File

Answer 4

• Module Scoped Build file:
  
  • build.gradle( Module: * )
  • Configure build settings for the application
  • Includes:
    
    • dependencies
    • minimum and target platform versions
    • application version information
    • multiple build types and product flavors

Question 5

The major Gradle Files:

Project Scoped Build File:

File Blocks

Answer 5

• ‘buildscript’ node
  
  • Indicates repositories and dependencies used by Gradle itself - not the application
  • ‘repositories’ node
    
    • Lists repositories, google() and jcenter() by default
  • ‘dependencies’ node
    
    • inlcudes Android Plugin for Gradle by default
    • classpath ‘com.whatever.*’
• ‘allprojects’ node
  
  • ‘repositories’ and ‘dependencies’
• ‘task clean(type: Delete)’
  
  • Deletes previous builds for a new buil

Question 6

Major Gradle Files:

Module-level Build File:

File Block Structure

Answer 6

• apply plugin lines
  
  • can be multiple plugins
  • By default, applies Android Plugin for Gradle
• ‘android’ block
  
  • compileSDKVersion
  • ‘defaultConfig {…}’
  • ‘buildTypes {…}’
  • ‘flavorDimensions’ definitions - optional
  • ‘productFlavors {…} ‘ - optional
  • ‘splits {…}
  • ‘sourceSets {…}’
• ‘dependencies’ block
  
  • Module-specific dependencies

Question 7

Major Gradle Files:

Module-level Build File:

Default Configuration block:

Purpose and Important Values to set

Answer 7

android/defaultConfig

• Specifies the default settings that will be shared across all the builds and product flavors, unless overridden
• Important Values:
  
  • applicationId
  • minSdkVersion
  • targetSdkVersion
  • versionCode
  • versionName
  • testInstrumentRunner

Question 8

Major Gradle Files:

Module-level Build File:

Build Types block:

Purpose and Important Values to set

Answer 8

android/buildTypes {…

• Used to define multiple different build types - typically ‘debug’ and ‘release’
• Contains a subnode for each build type,
  
  • specifies build parameters
• Android Studio automatically creates a ‘release’ build type
  
  • it applies ‘Proguard’ settings to shrink and obfuscate the code,
  • does not use a default signing key

Question 9

Major Gradle Files:

Module-level Build File:

Product Flavors

Basic Idea

Answer 9

Product Flavors allow you to override any of the values defined in the Default Configuration block.

This allows you to support different versions( “flavors” ) of the application using the same codebase.

Can be grouped according to different Flavor Dimensions.

Note: Each Product Flavor should specify its own unique application ID, so each can be distributed and installed independently

Question 10

Major Gradle Files:

Module-level Build File:

Flavor Dimensions

Basic Idea

Answer 10

Flavor Dimensions allow you to group different Product Flavors according to some category.

This lets each Product Flavor make only the necessary changes for a specific variation.

Then, multiple Product Flavors can be mixed and matched to create a large variety of final build varients, rather than specifying a Product Flavor for every possible build variant.

Question 11

Major Gradle Files:

Module-level Build File:

Splits Block

Answer 11

android/splits

• optional
• Configure different APK builds that contain only the code and resources for each supported screen density or ABI
• Generally best practice to create and distribute a single APK to support all target devices
  
  • In some cases, such as in games, this makes the APK very large
• Split APKs is a more advanced technique