Developer Productivity Engineering Blog

A build cache is one of the most effective tools for boosting productivity by reducing build times and shortening feedback cycles. However, many developers are unaware of what a build cache is and how it can help. This blog post will introduce you to a build cache and then walk you through using a build cache for Apache Maven projects.

Gradle is happy to announce a technical partnership with GitHub focusing on multiple areas, starting with supply chain security and developer experience. With this partnership, we establish a direct connection between organizations and plan to cooperate on integrations between GitHub and Gradle to promote best security practices among Gradle users.

Flaky tests pose substantial challenges due to their unpredictable and inconsistent nature. Effectively addressing them requires a multi-faceted approach that involves the effective integration of strategy, process and resource alignment, and a deep understanding of flaky test causality. This post will walk you through this approach.

Discover ‘Build Rot’, the hidden technical debt in Maven and Gradle builds. This post explores the impact of Build Rot on build speed and test times, offering strategies for enhanced observability and Developer Productivity Engineering to optimize build processes.

Gradle recently had an opportunity to optimize the cloud storage layer used for Build Scan®, a feature of Develocity. In this article, we’ll deep dive into the  challenge we faced with inefficient cloud storage, our decision to migrate to Amazon S3, and the remarkable result: a 75% reduction in data storage costs.

Flaky tests may seem like a minor inconvenience—we often learn to identify which tests occasionally (or frequently) fail for no good reason and pay them less attention. However, it’s crucial to understand their impact on the broader development process, because a flaky test both consumes valuable developer time and creates a sense of uncertainty around the testing suite.

One of the most powerful features of Develocity is its remote build cache. It allows teams to share the benefits of caching, even for local builds. If you have code that hasn’t changed, there’s no reason to rebuild it. 

Here at Gradle, Inc., we don’t just talk about Developer Productivity Engineering (DPE). We practice it every day. We know that companies that make DPE a priority have focused, productive developers who deliver better code faster while experiencing the joy of coding. That’s why Gradle has engineering resources dedicated to ensuring our developers get the same benefits as our customers. And we eat our own dog food. (Or, if you prefer, we drink our own champagne. Then again, not all of our code is written in France, so maybe we’re drinking our own sparkling wine.) That includes using Develocity Test Distribution. 

In a recent DevProdEng Showdown! Android gurus from some of the most famous technology and global business brands shared their best tips for accelerating Android build and test feedback cycle times. Here is what our friends at Twich, JP Morgan Chase, Delta, and Kaiser Permanente had to say. You can watch the video segment or read their comments (edited for clarity) below.