GNU Automake vs Gradle
GNU Automake
gnu.org
Gradle
gradle.orgSide by side
| Figure | GNU Automake | Gradle |
|---|---|---|
| Price from | Free | Free |
| Free plan | Yes | Yes |
| Free trial | — | — |
| Open source | — | — |
| Windows | — | Yes |
| macOS | — | Yes |
| Linux | — | Yes |
| API | — | Yes |
| Plans published | 1 | 1 |
| Spec score · Build Automation Software | 7.4 (#28) | 8.4 (#7) |
| Integrations | Automake works with Autoconf and documents building shared libraries using GNU Libtool. | Gradle lists integrations or support for Android Studio, Ant, Maven and Ivy repositories, and Checkstyle, CodeNarc, PMD, and JaCoCo. |
| Intended users | Automake is intended to reduce Makefile maintenance for GNU package maintainers. | Gradle describes itself as the open-source build system of choice for Java, Android, and Kotlin developers, from startups to large enterprises. |
| Purpose | GNU Automake generates GNU Coding Standards compliant Makefile.in files from Makefile.am templates. | Gradle Build Tool automates building software of any type, size, or complexity. |
Plans
In their own words
Gradle
Gradle Build Tool is a free, open-source system for automating software builds across projects of different types and sizes. Build logic can use either Kotlin DSL or Groovy DSL. Incremental builds, caching and parallel task execution support the build process, while Gradle downloads and manages transitive dependencies from Maven- and Ivy-compatible repositories. The Gradle Wrapper can provision a build environment and specify the Gradle version used by a project. Its ecosystem covers JVM, Android, C/C++, Swift, Objective-C and assembler projects, and it runs on Windows, macOS and Linux. The Tooling API lets IDEs and other tools inspect projects, run builds, receive progress events and cancel operations. Listed support includes Android Studio and Ant, plus Checkstyle, CodeNarc, PMD and JaCoCo. Gradle includes dependency verification. The maker says open-source security fixes are limited by its end-of-life policy; its Security Subscription offers prioritized fixes under SLA and extended maintenance, but does not guarantee a clean scanner report when findings come from third-party libraries.