Gradle plug-in by LinkedIn brings Build Automation to Python

LinkedIn has released a plugin {py}gradle for running Python builds on the well-known Gradle software build automation system.

Along {py}gradle, Python and java shops can adopt the same build system, as said by Stephen Holsapple, lead on python development at LinkedIn.This plugin is accessible on Apache 2 license.

LinkedIn is utilizing the open-source to standardize the community’s perspectives on what it wants from {py}gradle;pull and feature  requests will be preferred. The plugin is presently being in a 0.3 release stage, with a 1.0 release planned in about two weeks, after the response from the community.

Currently, Python is garnering approval from both businesses and developers, breaking the mold in which the two parties prefer different languages. As told by Holsapple, LinkedIn has been a Python user for many years, with many developers now using it primarily for developing libraries, command-line tools and web services

LinkedIn has used {py}Gradle to improve setuptools, the Python package management library that was previously found insufficient for LinkedIn’s requirements. Specifically, LinkedIn has found SetupTools lacking in dependency management, integration with metadata systems and polyglot builds for multilingual builds. As told by LinkedIn, {py}gradle project looks similar to a Python project using Setuptools.

The company has been using {py}gradle for about a year, during this period they have successfully managed nearly a thousand products with many interdepencies, prior to {py}gradle, which was a difficult process to maintain. Holsapple said, “It is easier for them to pick up Python developers up to speed with the {py}gradle build system by  attempting to maintain the Gradle DSL that we use idiomatic to Python developers”.

In future releases, LinkedIn has plans to further integrate between Gradle and Python by adding support for the Wheels package format and multiple versions of Python.