# Dependencies and Dependency Management Basics

version 9.4.1

Gradle has built-in support for dependency management.

Dependency management is an automated technique for declaring and resolving external resources required by a project (i.e., dependencies).

Dependencies include JARs, libraries, or source code that support building your project. They are declared in build scripts.

Gradle automatically handles downloading, caching, and resolving these dependencies, saving you from managing them manually. It also handles version conflicts and supports flexible version declarations.

## Declaring Your Dependencies

To add a dependency to your project, specify a dependency in the `dependencies {}` block of your `build.gradle(.kts)` file.

The following `build.gradle(.kts)` file adds two dependencies to the project:

build.gradle.kts

    plugins {
        id("java-library")  (1)
    }

    dependencies {
        implementation("com.google.guava:guava:32.1.2-jre") (2)
        api("org.apache.juneau:juneau-marshall:8.2.0")      (3)
    }

build.gradle

    plugins {
        id("java-library")  (1)
    }

    dependencies {
        implementation("com.google.guava:guava:32.1.2-jre") (2)
        api("org.apache.juneau:juneau-marshall:8.2.0")      (3)
    }

1 | Applies the Java Library plugin.
2 | Adds a dependency on Google’s Guava library used in production code.
3 | Adds a dependency on Apache’s Juneau Marshall library, used in library code.

Dependencies in Gradle are grouped by buckets called configurations, which define when, where, and how the dependency is used. Configurations define the scope of your dependencies. In the example above:

- `implementation` is used for dependencies needed to compile and run your production code.

- `api` is used for dependencies that should be exposed to consumers of your library.

When you apply certain plugins, Gradle automatically creates the right configurations for your project and makes them available to use.

For example, applying `java` or `java-library` adds configurations like `implementation`, `api`, `compileOnly`, `runtimeOnly`, and `testImplementation` so you can declare dependencies in the right place without extra setup.

The Android Gradle Plugin (AGP) adds variant-aware configs like `debugImplementation`, `releaseImplementation`, `androidTestImplementation`, and even per–build-type/flavor ones like `freeDebugImplementation`.

Kotlin Multiplatform (KMP) creates source set–scoped configs such as `commonMainImplementation`, `commonTestImplementation`, `androidMainImplementation`, `iosArm64MainImplementation`, etc.—so you depend exactly where the code runs.

## Viewing Project Dependencies

You can inspect the dependency tree using the `dependencies` task. For example, to view the dependencies of the `:app` project:

    $ ./gradlew :app:dependencies

Gradle will output the dependency tree, grouped by configuration:

    $ ./gradlew :app:dependencies

    > Task :app:dependencies

    ------------------------------------------------------------
    Project ':app'
    ------------------------------------------------------------

    ...

    runtimeClasspath - Runtime classpath of source set 'main'.
    +--- org.apache.juneau:juneau-marshall:8.2.0
    |    \--- org.apache.httpcomponents:httpcore:4.4.13
    \--- com.google.guava:guava:32.1.2-jre
         +--- com.google.guava:guava-parent:32.1.2-jre
         |    +--- com.google.code.findbugs:jsr305:3.0.2 (c)
         |    +--- org.checkerframework:checker-qual:3.33.0 (c)
         |    \--- com.google.errorprone:error_prone_annotations:2.18.0 (c)
         +--- com.google.guava:failureaccess:1.0.1
         +--- com.google.guava:listenablefuture:9999.0-empty-to-avoid-conflict-with-guava
         +--- com.google.code.findbugs:jsr305 -> 3.0.2
         +--- org.checkerframework:checker-qual -> 3.33.0
         \--- com.google.errorprone:error_prone_annotations -> 2.18.0

## Using a Version Catalog

A version catalog provides a centralized and consistent way to manage dependency coordinates and versions across your entire build. Instead of declaring versions directly in each `build.gradle(.kts)` file, you define them once in a `libs.versions.toml` file.

This makes it easier to:

- Share common dependency declarations between subprojects

- Avoid duplication and version inconsistencies

- Enforce dependency and plugin versions across large projects

The version catalog typically contains four sections:

1. `[versions]` to declare the version numbers that plugins and libraries will reference.

2. `[libraries]` to define the libraries used in the build files.

3. `[bundles]` to define a set of dependencies.

4. `[plugins]` to define plugins.

Here’s an example:

gradle/libs.versions.toml

    [versions]
    guava = "32.1.2-jre"
    juneau = "8.2.0"

    [libraries]
    guava = { group = "com.google.guava", name = "guava", version.ref = "guava" }
    juneau-marshall = { group = "org.apache.juneau", name = "juneau-marshall", version.ref = "juneau" }

Place this file in the `gradle/` directory of your project as `libs.versions.toml`. Gradle will pick it up automatically and expose its contents through the `libs` accessor in your build scripts. IDEs like IntelliJ and Android Studio will also pick up this metadata for code completion.

Once defined, you can reference these aliases directly in your build file:

build.gradle.kts

    dependencies {
        implementation(libs.guava)
        api(libs.juneau.marshall)
    }

build.gradle

    dependencies {
        implementation(libs.guava)
        api(libs.juneau.marshall)
    }

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