buildSrcVersions

buildSrcVersions is a Gradle plugin that makes it easier to manage your dependencies inside your IDE. It extracts all your dependencies and search for available dependencies updates.

Figure 1. IDE integration when you put your dependencies information in the buildSrc

Gradle has a special module called buildSrc where you can put Kotlin code and make it directly available to all your Gradle build files.

This is better than the traditional solution of putting your global variables in a Gradle ext property or in a Groovy HashMap, because in that case, the IDE support is exactly what you would expect when you work with an HashMap.

Now, what is better than writing manually those files Versions.kt and Libs.kt?

Having a Gradle plugin write them for you maybe?

Prerequisites

Kotlin, JVM and Android projects.
Gradle 4.3+ and Gradle 5.0+
The IDE integration works for both build.gradle (Groovy) and build.gradle.kts (Kotlin) files.
The IDE integration works in IntelliJ >= 2008.03+
Android Studio: the IDE integration works in 3.3 and 3.5+. It was broken in 3.3 and 3.4 due bug #123032843: IDE integration with the buildSrc

Installation

Edit your root build.gradle(.kts) file

buildscript {
    //...
}
plugins {
  id("de.fayard.buildSrcVersions") version "0.4.1"
}
// Don't put any code before the buildscripts {} and plugins {} block

Extract your dependencies

The plugin adds a task to your build, also called :buildSrcVersions. Run it like this:

$ ./gradlew buildSrcVersions
> Task :dependencyUpdates
> Task :buildSrcVersions
        new file:   buildSrc/build.gradle.kts
        new file:   buildSrc/.gitignore
        new file:   buildSrc/settings.gradle.kts
        new file:   buildSrc/src/main/kotlin/Libs.kt
        new file:   buildSrc/src/main/kotlin/Versions.kt

Replace your dependencies

Synchronize your Gradle build.

You can now start to replace your magic strings with the properties available in Libs.kt

dependencies {
    implementation(Libs.okio)
    implementation(Libs.com_squareup_moshi_moshi)
}

Once you have replaced your magic strings by Libs.xxx, the main feature provided by this plugin is to search for dependencies updates.

Search for dependencies updates

Upgrade dependencies tend to be tedious but it is critically important:

Few projects have versioned documentation: master/README.md is their documentation. This means you can waste time trying out snippets that do not work in the version you are using.
When you open an issue, you will often be asked: Can you reproduce this problem in the latest version?

This plugin inherits from the Gradle Versions plugin the feature to automatically determine which dependencies have updates.

When you decide you want to update some dependencies, run again the plugin:

$ ./gradlew buildSrcVersions
> Task :dependencyUpdates
> Task :buildSrcVersions
        modified:   buildSrc/src/main/kotlin/Libs.kt
        modified:   buildSrc/src/main/kotlin/Versions.kt

The file Versions.kt is regenerated with a comment indicating which new version is available.

object Versions {
    val moshi = "1.8.0"
    val com_squareup_okhttp3 = "3.11.0" // available: "3.12.0"
}

Figure 2. buildSrcVersions search for dependencies updates and let you decide which you want to apply

As shown in this screencast:

To update, just delete the part "3.11.0" // available .
Remove the comment if you don’t want to update.

FAQ

Questions? Look at the existing issues, then ask your own.

Figure 3. FAQ

Changelog

See CHANGELOG.md

Contributing

This project is licensed under the MIT License. See LICENSE.txt
Explain your use case and start the discussion before your submit a pull-request
Your feature request or bug report may be better adressed by the parent plugin. Check out ben-manes/gradle-versions-plugin.
CONTRIBUTING.md describes the process for submitting pull requests.

Acknowledgments

Gradle and JetBrains have made this plugin possible by working on improving the IDE support for Kotlin code from the buildSrc module.

This plugin embraces and extends Ben Manes’s wonderful "Versions" plugin.

Ghedeon/buildSrcVersions