Gradle FatJar - Java

Gradle FatJar is a plugin for Gradle that creates a single executable jar file containing all dependencies and resources required by the application. This is useful when deploying the application to a server or distributing it to other users.

Getting Started

To use the Gradle FatJar plugin, you will need to add it to your Gradle build file.

plugins {
    id 'java'
    id 'com.github.johnrengelman.shadow' version '7.0.0'
}

The java plugin is used to build the application and the com.github.johnrengelman.shadow plugin is used to create the FatJar.

Configuring the Plugin

Once the plugin is added to the build file, you can configure it as follows:

shadowJar {
    baseName = 'my-application'
    version = '1.0.0'
    manifest {
        attributes 'Main-Class': 'com.example.MyApplication'
    }
}

The baseName is the name of the FatJar file and the version is the version number. The manfiest block is used to specify the main class of the application.

Building the FatJar

To build the FatJar, you can use the following command:

./gradlew shadowJar

This will create a FatJar file in the build/libs directory.

Conclusion

The Gradle FatJar plugin is a useful tool for packaging Java applications for deployment or distribution. It simplifies the process of managing dependencies and resources and makes it easier to distribute the application to other users.