diff --git a/.gitignore b/.gitignore
index 57f1cb2..7dd9c69 100644
--- a/.gitignore
+++ b/.gitignore
@@ -1 +1,4 @@
-/.idea/
\ No newline at end of file
+/.idea/
+target/
+build/
+.gradle/
diff --git a/.gitignore.txt b/.gitignore.txt
deleted file mode 100644
index 57f1cb2..0000000
--- a/.gitignore.txt
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1 +0,0 @@
-/.idea/
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/.mvn/wrapper/maven-wrapper.properties b/.mvn/wrapper/maven-wrapper.properties
index c954cec..4465bd9 100644
--- a/.mvn/wrapper/maven-wrapper.properties
+++ b/.mvn/wrapper/maven-wrapper.properties
@@ -1 +1 @@
-distributionUrl=https://repo1.maven.org/maven2/org/apache/maven/apache-maven/3.3.9/apache-maven-3.3.9-bin.zip
+distributionUrl=https://repo1.maven.org/maven2/org/apache/maven/apache-maven/3.9.6/apache-maven-3.9.6-bin.zip
diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index 2b09400..0525d34 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -17,9 +17,24 @@ In addition, it uses
 
 
 ## Getting Started
+
+Requires a locally installed JDK 17 (the Gradle build pins a Java 17 toolchain and no toolchain resolver is configured, so it will not download one).
+
 1) Download or clone the project with link 
 (https://github.com/RehmanMuradAli/springboot-java8/)
 
+2) Build and run with Maven
+```
+./mvnw clean package
+java -jar target/gs-spring-boot-0.1.0.jar
+```
+
+or with Gradle
+```
+./gradlew clean bootJar
+java -jar build/libs/gs-spring-boot-0.1.0.jar
+```
+
 ## Available API's
 
 Greetings
@@ -76,7 +91,7 @@ GET /datetime
 
 ### Prerequisites
 
-1) Java sdk
+1) JDK 17
 2) POSTMAN
 
 ### Installing
@@ -126,6 +141,7 @@ https://dzone.com/articles/java-8-friday-goodies-new-new
 ## Built With
 
 * [Maven](https://maven.apache.org/) - Dependency Management
+* [Gradle](https://gradle.org/) - Alternative build, kept in sync with the Maven build
 
 ## Authors
 
diff --git a/application.properties b/application.properties
deleted file mode 100644
index d3baf26..0000000
--- a/application.properties
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1 +0,0 @@
-#server.port = 8081
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/build.gradle b/build.gradle
index 09f1083..a007185 100644
--- a/build.gradle
+++ b/build.gradle
@@ -3,7 +3,8 @@ buildscript {
         mavenCentral()
     }
     dependencies {
-        classpath("org.springframework.boot:spring-boot-gradle-plugin:2.0.2.RELEASE")
+        classpath("org.springframework.boot:spring-boot-gradle-plugin:2.7.18")
+        classpath("io.spring.gradle:dependency-management-plugin:1.0.15.RELEASE")
     }
 }
 
@@ -14,19 +15,29 @@ apply plugin: 'org.springframework.boot'
 apply plugin: 'io.spring.dependency-management'
 
 bootJar {
-    baseName = 'gs-spring-boot'
-    version =  '0.1.0'
+    archiveBaseName = 'gs-spring-boot'
+    archiveVersion = '0.1.0'
 }
 
 repositories {
     mavenCentral()
 }
 
-sourceCompatibility = 1.8
-targetCompatibility = 1.8
+java {
+    toolchain {
+        languageVersion = JavaLanguageVersion.of(17)
+    }
+}
+
+tasks.withType(JavaCompile) {
+    options.release = 17
+}
 
 dependencies {
-    compile("org.springframework.boot:spring-boot-starter-web")
-    testCompile("junit:junit")
+    implementation("org.springframework.boot:spring-boot-starter-web")
+    implementation("org.springframework.boot:spring-boot-starter-jdbc")
+    runtimeOnly("com.h2database:h2")
+    runtimeOnly("org.springframework.boot:spring-boot-properties-migrator")
+    testImplementation("junit:junit")
 }
 
diff --git a/gradle/wrapper/gradle-wrapper.properties b/gradle/wrapper/gradle-wrapper.properties
index a2ff3cc..03a8d13 100644
--- a/gradle/wrapper/gradle-wrapper.properties
+++ b/gradle/wrapper/gradle-wrapper.properties
@@ -3,4 +3,4 @@ distributionBase=GRADLE_USER_HOME
 distributionPath=wrapper/dists
 zipStoreBase=GRADLE_USER_HOME
 zipStorePath=wrapper/dists
-distributionUrl=https\://services.gradle.org/distributions/gradle-4.6-bin.zip
+distributionUrl=https\://services.gradle.org/distributions/gradle-7.6.4-bin.zip
diff --git a/gradlew b/gradlew
old mode 100644
new mode 100755
diff --git a/mvnw b/mvnw
old mode 100644
new mode 100755
diff --git a/pom.xml b/pom.xml
index 63f5cbd..7179f46 100644
--- a/pom.xml
+++ b/pom.xml
@@ -5,13 +5,13 @@
 
     <groupId>org.springframework</groupId>
     <artifactId>gs-spring-boot</artifactId>
-    <packaging>pom</packaging>
+    <packaging>jar</packaging>
     <version>0.1.0</version>
 
     <parent>
         <groupId>org.springframework.boot</groupId>
         <artifactId>spring-boot-starter-parent</artifactId>
-        <version>2.0.2.RELEASE</version>
+        <version>2.7.18</version>
     </parent>
 
     <dependencies>
@@ -31,11 +31,15 @@
         <dependency>
             <groupId>com.h2database</groupId>
             <artifactId>h2</artifactId>
+            <scope>runtime</scope>
         </dependency>
     </dependencies>
 
     <properties>
-        <java.version>1.8</java.version>
+        <java.version>17</java.version>
+        <maven.compiler.release>17</maven.compiler.release>
+        <maven-compiler-plugin.version>3.13.0</maven-compiler-plugin.version>
+        <maven-surefire-plugin.version>3.5.6</maven-surefire-plugin.version>
     </properties>
 
 
diff --git a/settings.gradle b/settings.gradle
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..5e94bef
--- /dev/null
+++ b/settings.gradle
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+rootProject.name = 'gs-spring-boot'
diff --git a/src/main/java/hello/Application.java b/src/main/java/hello/Application.java
index 7cf8faf..54348e7 100644
--- a/src/main/java/hello/Application.java
+++ b/src/main/java/hello/Application.java
@@ -16,6 +16,7 @@
 import org.springframework.context.ApplicationContext;
 import org.springframework.context.annotation.Bean;
 import org.springframework.jdbc.core.JdbcTemplate;
+import org.springframework.web.client.RestClientException;
 import org.springframework.web.client.RestTemplate;
 
 @SpringBootApplication
@@ -23,6 +24,8 @@ public class Application implements CommandLineRunner {
 
     private static final Logger log = LoggerFactory.getLogger(Application.class);
 
+    private static final String QUOTE_URL = "http://gturnquist-quoters.cfapps.io/api/random";
+
     public static void main(String[] args) {
 
         ApplicationContext ctx = SpringApplication.run(Application.class, args);
@@ -35,9 +38,16 @@ public static void main(String[] args) {
             System.out.println(beanName);
         }
 
-        RestTemplate restTemplate =  new RestTemplate();
-        Quote quote = restTemplate.getForObject("http://gturnquist-quoters.cfapps.io/api/random", Quote.class);
-        log.info(quote.toString());
+        logRandomQuote(new RestTemplate());
+    }
+
+    private static void logRandomQuote(RestTemplate restTemplate) {
+        try {
+            Quote quote = restTemplate.getForObject(QUOTE_URL, Quote.class);
+            log.info(String.valueOf(quote));
+        } catch (RestClientException e) {
+            log.warn("Could not fetch a quote from {}: {}", QUOTE_URL, e.getMessage());
+        }
     }
 
 
@@ -48,11 +58,7 @@ public RestTemplate restTemplate(RestTemplateBuilder builder) {
 
     @Bean
     public CommandLineRunner run(RestTemplate restTemplate) throws Exception {
-        return args -> {
-            Quote quote = restTemplate.getForObject(
-                    "http://gturnquist-quoters.cfapps.io/api/random", Quote.class);
-            log.info(quote.toString());
-        };
+        return args -> logRandomQuote(restTemplate);
     }
 
 
@@ -80,8 +86,9 @@ public void run(String... args) throws Exception {
 
         log.info("Querying for customer records where first_name = 'Josh':");
         jdbcTemplate.query(
-                "SELECT id, first_name, last_name FROM customers WHERE first_name = ?", new Object[]{"Josh"},
-                (rs, rowNum) -> new Customer(rs.getLong("id"), rs.getString("first_name"), rs.getString("last_name"))
+                "SELECT id, first_name, last_name FROM customers WHERE first_name = ?",
+                (rs, rowNum) -> new Customer(rs.getLong("id"), rs.getString("first_name"), rs.getString("last_name")),
+                "Josh"
         ).forEach(customer -> log.info(customer.toString()));
 
     }
diff --git a/src/main/resources/application.properties b/src/main/resources/application.properties
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..9e0676c
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/main/resources/application.properties
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+#server.port=8081
diff --git a/target/classes/hello/Application.class b/target/classes/hello/Application.class
deleted file mode 100644
index 245a020..0000000
Binary files a/target/classes/hello/Application.class and /dev/null differ
diff --git a/target/classes/hello/controller/GreetingController.class b/target/classes/hello/controller/GreetingController.class
deleted file mode 100644
index 1149660..0000000
Binary files a/target/classes/hello/controller/GreetingController.class and /dev/null differ
diff --git a/target/classes/hello/controller/HelloController.class b/target/classes/hello/controller/HelloController.class
deleted file mode 100644
index 79b82ce..0000000
Binary files a/target/classes/hello/controller/HelloController.class and /dev/null differ
diff --git a/target/classes/hello/controller/TopicController.class b/target/classes/hello/controller/TopicController.class
deleted file mode 100644
index c32cad5..0000000
Binary files a/target/classes/hello/controller/TopicController.class and /dev/null differ
diff --git a/target/classes/hello/declaration/CustomPredicate.class b/target/classes/hello/declaration/CustomPredicate.class
deleted file mode 100644
index e35803f..0000000
Binary files a/target/classes/hello/declaration/CustomPredicate.class and /dev/null differ
diff --git a/target/classes/hello/declaration/TimeClient.class b/target/classes/hello/declaration/TimeClient.class
deleted file mode 100644
index a077c3b..0000000
Binary files a/target/classes/hello/declaration/TimeClient.class and /dev/null differ
diff --git a/target/classes/hello/model/Customer.class b/target/classes/hello/model/Customer.class
deleted file mode 100644
index 06e7307..0000000
Binary files a/target/classes/hello/model/Customer.class and /dev/null differ
diff --git a/target/classes/hello/model/Greeting.class b/target/classes/hello/model/Greeting.class
deleted file mode 100644
index f875277..0000000
Binary files a/target/classes/hello/model/Greeting.class and /dev/null differ
diff --git a/target/classes/hello/model/Quote.class b/target/classes/hello/model/Quote.class
deleted file mode 100644
index 3ec6c6c..0000000
Binary files a/target/classes/hello/model/Quote.class and /dev/null differ
diff --git a/target/classes/hello/model/SimpleTimeClient.class b/target/classes/hello/model/SimpleTimeClient.class
deleted file mode 100644
index f9bdddd..0000000
Binary files a/target/classes/hello/model/SimpleTimeClient.class and /dev/null differ
diff --git a/target/classes/hello/model/Topic.class b/target/classes/hello/model/Topic.class
deleted file mode 100644
index 3a53aa5..0000000
Binary files a/target/classes/hello/model/Topic.class and /dev/null differ
diff --git a/target/classes/hello/model/Value.class b/target/classes/hello/model/Value.class
deleted file mode 100644
index 862a68f..0000000
Binary files a/target/classes/hello/model/Value.class and /dev/null differ
diff --git a/target/classes/hello/service/TopicService.class b/target/classes/hello/service/TopicService.class
deleted file mode 100644
index b9f4992..0000000
Binary files a/target/classes/hello/service/TopicService.class and /dev/null differ
diff --git a/target/classes/public/index.html b/target/classes/public/index.html
deleted file mode 100644
index 566549b..0000000
--- a/target/classes/public/index.html
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,10 +0,0 @@
-<!DOCTYPE html>
-<html lang="en">
-<head>
-    <meta charset="UTF-8">
-    <title>Title</title>
-</head>
-<body>
-
-</body>
-</html>
\ No newline at end of file