Gradle JavaScript Plugin

Note: This is a maintained fork of the original gradle-js-plugin, updated for Gradle 8/9 compatibility and published under the de.inetsoftware group ID.

Disclaimer: Most of the changes in this fork, including Gradle 8/9 compatibility fixes, Ant removal, and CI/CD pipeline improvements, were created with the assistance of Cursor AI. While the code has been tested and verified, please review changes carefully before using in production environments.

Fork Information

This fork maintains forward compatibility with the original plugin while providing:

• Gradle 8/9 compatibility - Fixed deprecated API usage and compatibility issues
• Updated group ID - Published as de.inetsoftware.gradle:gradle-js-plugin
• Updated plugin IDs - Use de.inetsoftware.gradle.js instead of com.cloudzilla.gradle.js
• Modern CI/CD pipeline - GitHub Actions workflows replacing Travis CI
• Removed Ant dependencies - All Ant usage replaced with Java/Gradle APIs for better compatibility
• All original functionality preserved - Drop-in replacement for the original plugin

Migration from Original Plugin

If you're using the original com.cloudzilla.gradle.js plugin, you can migrate to this fork by:

1. Update your plugin declaration:

   plugins {
     id "de.inetsoftware.gradle.js" version "2.18.0"
   }

2. Or update buildscript dependency:

   buildscript {
       dependencies {
           classpath 'de.inetsoftware.gradle:gradle-js-plugin:2.18.0'
       }
   }
   apply plugin: 'de.inetsoftware.gradle.js'

All task names and configuration remain the same - only the plugin ID and group ID have changed.

---

Aiming to be the simplest way to manage your JavaScript in a build.

Quick Start

Wrangling your JS in a Gradle build is easy! Just add this to your build.gradle file:

Gradle 2.1+

plugins {
  id "de.inetsoftware.gradle.js" version "2.18.0"
}

// Declare your sources
javascript.source {
    dev {
        js {
            srcDir jsSrcDir
            include "*.js"
            exclude "*.min.js"
        }
    }
    prod {
        js {
            srcDir jsSrcDir
            include "*.min.js"
        }
    }
}

Combining Files (options)

// Configure the built-in task
combineJs {
    encoding = "UTF-8"
    source = javascript.source.dev.js.files
    dest = file("${buildDir}/all.js")
}

// Create new CombineJsTasks if you have multiple sets of JS files
task jsDev(type: com.eriwen.gradle.js.tasks.CombineJsTask) {
    source = ["${projectDir}/js/file1.js", "${projectDir}/js/file2.js"]
    dest = file("${buildDir}/all-debug.js")
}

task jsProd(type: com.eriwen.gradle.js.tasks.CombineJsTask) {
    source = ["${projectDir}/js/file1.js", "${projectDir}/js/file2.js"]
    dest = file("${buildDir}/all.js")
}

Minifying files with Google Closure Compiler (options)

minifyJs {
    source = combineJs
    dest = file("${buildDir}/all-min.js")
    sourceMap = file("${buildDir}/all.sourcemap.json")
    closure {
        warningLevel = 'QUIET'
    }
}

GZip JS (options)

gzipJs {
    source = minifyjs
    dest = file("${buildDir}/all-min.js")
}

JavaScript Linting with Closure Compiler (options)

Note: This plugin now uses Google Closure Compiler for JavaScript linting instead of JSHint. The task is still named jshint for backward compatibility, but it uses Closure Compiler's static analysis capabilities.

jshint {
    source = javascript.source.dev.js.files
    dest = file("${buildDir}/jshint.out")
    reporter = 'checkstyle'  // Supports 'checkstyle' XML format or plain text
    ignoreExitCode = true     // Set to false to fail build on warnings/errors
    outputToStdOut = false   // Set to true to output to STDOUT instead of file
}

The Closure Compiler will analyze your JavaScript code and report:

• Syntax errors
• Type mismatches
• Undefined variables
• Unused code
• And other static analysis warnings

Migration Note: If you were using JSHint-specific options like jshint.options or jshint.predef, these are no longer available as the plugin now uses Closure Compiler's analysis engine. The output format and basic configuration options remain compatible.

JSDoc 3 support (options)

jsdoc {
    source = ["${projectDir}/js/file1.js", "${projectDir}/js/file2.js"]
    destinationDir = file("${buildDir}/jsdoc")
}

props2js support (options)

props2js {
    source = file("${projectDir}/src/test/resources/test.properties")
    dest = file("${buildDir}/props.jsonp")
    props {
        type = 'jsonp'
        functionName = 'fn'
    }
}

require.js via r.js (options)

requireJs {
    source = javascript.source.dev.js.files
    dest = file("${buildDir}/out.js")
    requirejs.buildprofile = new File("src/main/resources/requirejs-config.js")
}

Built-in Tasks and Options

combineJs

• source = Collection of file paths of files to merge
• dest = File for combined output

minifyJs (Uses the Google Closure Compiler)

• source = File to minify
• dest = File for minified output
• (Optional) sourcemap = Source map file
• (Optional) closure.compilationLevel = 'WHITESPACE_ONLY', 'SIMPLE_OPTIMIZATIONS' (default), or 'ADVANCED_OPTIMIZATIONS' (are you hardcore?)
• (Optional) closure.warningLevel = 'QUIET', 'DEFAULT' (default), or 'VERBOSE'
• (Optional) closure.compilerOptions = CompilerOptions object
• (Optional) closure.externs = FileCollection object

gzipJs

• source = File to compress
• dest = File for compressed output

jshint (JavaScript Linting with Closure Compiler)

Note: This task now uses Google Closure Compiler for static analysis instead of JSHint. The task name remains jshint for backward compatibility.

• source = Files to analyze with Closure Compiler
• dest = File for linting output
• (Optional) reporter = Output format: 'checkstyle' for XML format, or omit for plain text. Defaults to plain text.
• (Optional) ignoreExitCode = Fail build if false and linting finds problems. Default is true.
• (Optional) outputToStdOut = true will output to STDOUT instead of file. Default is false.

Important: JSHint-specific options (jshint.options, jshint.predef) are no longer available as this plugin now uses Closure Compiler's static analysis engine. Closure Compiler provides more comprehensive type checking and error detection than JSHint.

jsdoc

• source = Files to generate documentation for
• destinationDir = Directory path to put JSDoc output
• (Optional) options.options = []

JSDoc 3 options:
-t or --template <value> The name of the template to use. Default: the "default" template
-c or --configure <value> The path to the configuration file. Default: jsdoc __dirname + /conf.json
-e or --encoding <value> Assume this encoding when reading all source files. Default: utf-8
-T or --test Run all tests and quit.
-d or --destination <value> The path to the output folder. Use "console" to dump data to the console. Default: console
-p or --private Display symbols marked with the @private tag. Default: false.
-r or --recurse Recurse into subdirectories when scanning for source code files.
-h or --help Print this message and quit.
-X or --explain Dump all found doclet internals to console and quit.
-q or --query <value> Provide a querystring to define custom variable names/values to add to the options hash.
-u or --tutorials <value> Directory in which JSDoc should search for tutorials.

props2js

• source = Properties file to process
• dest = Destination file for output
• props.type = One of: 'js', 'json', or 'jsonp'
• (Optional) props.functionName = Function name to wrap JSONP

requireJs

• source = Source JS files
• dest = Output JS file
• (Must declare this or requirejs.options) requirejs.buildprofile = File reference for config example
• requirejs.options = Map of options require.js docs
• (Optional) ignoreExitCode = Fail build if false and require.js did not run successfully. Default is false.
• (Optional) requirejs.impl = r.js implementation file. Version 2.1.8 is provided within this plugin. Specifying this option allows users to specify a version of the require optimizer of their own choosing

What, you want more? Tell me!

Requirements

• Gradle 8.14+ or 9.2.1+ - This fork requires Gradle 8.14 or later, with full support for Gradle 9.2.1
• Java 11+ - Required for compilation

Compatibility

This fork has been tested and verified with:

• Gradle 8.14, 8.14.3, 9.2.1
• Java 17, 21
• All original plugin functionality preserved

Contributors

This project is made possible due to the efforts of these fine people:

• Eric Wendelin - Original author and maintainer
• Luke Daley - Advice and improved project structure and testing
• Josh Newman - AMD and CommonJS work
• Martin Ziel - Allowing minifyJs task to accept multiple files as input
• Joe Fitzgerald - JSHint and RequireJS features
• levsa - JSHint predef and checkstyle reporter
• Martin Snyder - requireJs impl option
• Aaron Arnett - Remove explicit MavenCentral dependency
• sv99 - Improve Gradle version compatibility
• i-net software GmbH - Gradle 8/9 compatibility, Ant removal, and ongoing maintenance

See Also

The Gradle CSS Plugin!

License

This plugin is licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 with no warranty (expressed or implied) for any purpose.