Java Module Dependencies Gradle plugin

A Gradle 7.4+ plugin to make Gradle use dependencies from module-info.java files automatically. If you have a project that fully uses Java Modules, you do not need to declare dependencies in the dependencies { } block anymore. Gradle will use the information from your module-info.java directly.

To manage the versions of Java Modules, the plugin conveniently integrates with Platform Projects and Dependency Versions Constraints in general as well as Version Catalogs.

This GradleX plugin is maintained by me, Jendrik Johannes. I offer consulting and training for Gradle and/or the Java Module System - please reach out if you are interested. There is also my YouTube channel on Gradle topics.

If you have a suggestion or a question, please open an issue.

There is a CHANGELOG.md.

Java Modules with Gradle

If you plan to build Java Modules with Gradle, you should consider using these plugins on top of Gradle core:

• id("org.gradlex.java-module-dependencies")
  Avoid duplicated dependency definitions and get your Module Path under control
• id("org.gradlex.java-module-testing")
  Proper test setup for Java Modules
• id("org.gradlex.extra-java-module-info")
  Only if your (existing) project cannot avoid using non-module legacy Jars

Here is a sample that shows all plugins in combination.

In episodes 31, 32, 33 of Understanding Gradle I explain what these plugins do and why they are needed.

Full Java Module System Project Setup is a full-fledged Java Module System project setup using these plugins.

How to use?

For a quick start, you can find some samples here:

• samples/versions-in-platform
• samples/versions-in-catalog
• samples/module-info-dsl
• samples/module-info-dsl-no-platform
• samples/kotlin

For general information about how to structure Gradle builds and apply community plugins like this one to all subprojects you can check out my Understanding Gradle video series.

Plugin dependency

Add this to the build file of your convention plugin's build (e.g. gradle/plugins/build.gradle(.kts) or buildSrc/build.gradle(.kts)).

dependencies {
    implementation("org.gradlex:java-module-dependencies:1.6.4")
}

⚠️ Due to this bug in Gradle which may affect the plugin, it is recommented to add the following to your settings.gradle(.kts) file:

includeBuild(".")

Apply the plugin

In your convention plugin, apply the plugin.

plugins {
    ...
    id("org.gradlex.java-module-dependencies")
}

Effect of the plugin

Once the plugin is applied, dependencies are automatically determined based on the requires directives in your module-info.java files. For example:

module org.example.mymodule {
    requires com.fasterxml.jackson.core;   // -> implementation("com.fasterxml.jackson.core:jackson-core")
    requires transitive org.slf4j;         // -> api("org.slf4j:slf4j-api")
    requires static jakarta.servlet;       // -> compileOnly("jakarta.servlet:jakarta.servlet-api")
    requires /*runtime*/ org.slf4j.simple; // -> runtimeOnly("org.slf4j:slf4j-simple")
}

Note that requires /*runtime*/ is a directive specifically supported by this plugin to allow the specification of runtime only dependencies.

Define additional module dependencies in build files

With this plugin you move dependency definitions into module-info.java files and no longer use the dependencies {} block in build files. However, there are certain dependency "scopes" not supported by the module-info.java syntax. For this, the plugin offers an extension of Gradle's DSL to be used in build.gradle(.kts) files.

mainModuleInfo {
    runtimeOnly("org.slf4j.simple") // runtime only dependency for the 'main' module
    annotationProcessor("dagger.compiler")  // annotation processor dependency for the 'main' module
}

For modules in other source sets, there are corresponding blocks to define dependencies if needed – e.g. testFixturesModuleInfo {}.

In case a source set does not contain a module-info.java, all dependencies can be defined in the build.gradle(.kts) files. The only case where this should be used is for whitebox testing activated via the org.gradlex.java-module-testing plugin.

testModuleInfo {
    requires("org.assertj.core")
    requires("org.hamcrest")
    requires("org.junit.jupiter.api")
}

Add Module Name mapping information (if needed)

You may define additional mappings from Module Name to group:name (GA) coordinates.

The plugin already knows about Modules available on Maven Central. The information is stored in:

• modules.properties - please open a PR if you miss an entry
• unique_modules.properties - this information is extracted from modules.properties by @sormuras

You define additional entries (or overwrite entries from the plugin) in a gradle/modules.properties file in your project:

org.apache.commons.lang3=org.apache.commons:commons-lang3
org.apache.commons.lang3.test.fixtures=org.apache.commons:commons-lang3|test-fixtures

Or as part of the plugin configuration in your convention plugins:

javaModuleDependencies {
    // Module Name to Component GA Coordinates
    moduleNameToGA.put("org.apache.commons.lang3", "org.apache.commons:commons-lang3")

    // Module Name to Component GA Coordinates & Capability GA Coordinates
    moduleNameToGA.put("org.apache.commons.lang3.test.fixtures", "org.apache.commons:commons-lang3|test-fixtures")
}

There is also the option to register a mapping for all Modules that share a common name prefix and group. For example: moduleNamePrefixToGroup.put("com.example.product.module.", "com.example.product").

Naming patterns for Modules in the build

This plugin makes the following assumption about Module Names of your own Modules in the build to establish dependencies between them:

• Module Name == "${prefixOfYourChoice}.${project.name}

Or:

• Module Name == "${prefixOfYourChoice}.${project.name}.${sourceSet.name}"

A project.name is determined by the include(projectName) statement in the settings file. A sourceSet.name is typically the name of the folder where the sources are located - e.g main or test.

If you have a prefixOfYourChoice, all your Modules need to have the same prefix in order for the plugin to establish dependencies between the projects.

Define Module versions in a Platform project as Dependency Constraints

Use Gradle's dependency constraints and/or platforms to define versions for the modules you depend on. For that you can combine the java-platform with the org.gradlex.java-module-versions plugin which adds a moduleInfo { } configuration block. In that block, you have the version("module.name", "1.0") notation to define a version by Module Name instead of coordinates. For libraries that consist of multiple components and have a BOM for version management, you might prefer to include the BOM, which you need to do by coordinates, because a BOM does not have a Module Name.

plugins {
    id("java-platform")
    id("org.gradlex.java-module-versions")
}

// Define versions for Modules via the Module Name
moduleInfo {
    version("org.apache.xmlbeans", "5.0.1")
    version("org.slf4j", "2.0.7")
    version("org.slf4j.simple", "2.0.7")
}

// Use BOMs for Modules that are part of a library of multiple Modules
javaPlatform.allowDependencies()
dependencies {
    api(platform("com.fasterxml.jackson:jackson-bom:2.13.2"))
    api(platform("org.junit:junit-bom:5.8.2"))
}

Note: If you need to declare additional dependencies without version, or want to use Gradle's rich versions, you can also use the ga() shortcut to map a Module Name to the corresponding GA coordinates. For example:

dependencies {
    javaModuleDependencies {
        testRuntimeOnly(ga("org.junit.jupiter.engine"))
    }
}

Define Module versions in a version catalog

Alternatively, versions can be defined in the [version] block of a version catalog.

• Note, if you use the libs.versions.toml notation: Since . is not supported, you need to use _ as delimiter in the module names.

settings.gradle.kts

dependencyResolutionManagement {
    versionCatalogs.create("libs") {
        version("org.apache.xmlbeans", "5.0.1")
        version("com.fasterxml.jackson.databind", "2.12.5")
        version("org.slf4j", "2.0.7")
        
        version("org.junit.jupiter.api", "5.8.2")
    }
}

gradle/libs.versions.toml

[versions]
org_apache_xmlbeans = "5.0.1"
com_fasterxml_jackson_databind = "2.12.5"
org_slf4j = "2.0.7"

org-junit-jupiter-api = "5.7.2"

• Note that the TOML notation does not support . as separater in the Module Names, but allows you to use _ or - instead.
• If you use a catalog with a custom name (not libs), you can tell the plugin using versionCatalogName.set("customName").

Find the latest stable version of a Module

The recommendModuleVersions help task prints the latest available versions of the Modules you require.

You may copy/paste the version constraints for your platform project or convention plugin from the task output:

$ ./gradlew :app:recommendModuleVersions -q

Latest Stable Versions of Java Modules - use in your platform project's build.gradle(.kts)
==========================================================================================
moduleInfo {
    version("com.fasterxml.jackson.annotation", "2.13.2")
    version("com.fasterxml.jackson.core", "2.13.2")
    version("com.fasterxml.jackson.databind", "2.13.2.2")
    version("org.apache.logging.log4j", "2.17.2")
    version("org.apache.xmlbeans", "5.0.3")
    version("org.junit.jupiter.api", "5.8.2")
    version("org.junit.jupiter.engine", "5.8.2")
    version("org.junit.platform.commons", "1.8.2")
    version("org.junit.platform.engine", "1.8.2")
    version("org.junit.platform.launcher", "1.8.2")
    version("org.opentest4j", "1.2.0")
    version("org.slf4j", "1.7.36")
    version("org.slf4j.simple", "1.7.36")
}

Check module-info.java files

You can use the checkAllModuleInfo check task to validate all module-info.java files for the following:

• Do the requires directives correspond to what is needed in the source code? To activate this functionality, you need to apply the com.autonomousapps.dependency-analysis in the root project.
• Are the requires directives defined in alphabetical order?

Analyze Module Paths

You can use the moduleDependencies and analyzeModulePath help task to analyse the Module Paths of a project. It will show you which Modules are used and to which GAV coordinates they map. It will also print potential issues - like Jars that are not Modules (and are therefore put on the classpath) or wrong custom mappings from Module Names to GAs where the Jars are not Modules.

$ ./gradlew :app:moduleDependencies --configuration=runtimeClasspath -q

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

runtimeClasspath - Runtime classpath of source set 'main'.
+--- org.example.product.bespin
|    +--- org.example.product.corellia
|    |    +--- org.apache.poi.poi (5.2.2)
|    |    |    +--- org.apache.commons.codec (1.15)
|    |    |    +--- org.apache.commons.collections4 (4.4)
|    |    |    +--- commons.math3 (3.6.1)
|    |    |    +--- org.apache.commons.io (2.11.0)
|    |    |    +--- SparseBitSet (1.2)
|    |    |    \--- org.apache.logging.log4j (2.17.2)
|    |    +--- org.apache.commons.io (2.11.0)
|    |    \--- org.apache.poi.ooxml (5.2.2)
|    |         +--- org.apache.poi.poi (5.2.2) (*)
|    |         +--- org.apache.poi.ooxml.schemas (5.2.2)
|    |         |    \--- org.apache.xmlbeans (5.0.3)
|    |         |         \--- org.apache.logging.log4j (2.17.2)
|    |         +--- org.apache.xmlbeans (5.0.3) (*)
|    |         +--- org.apache.commons.compress (1.21)
|    |         +--- org.apache.commons.io (2.11.0)
|    |         +--- com.github.virtuald.curvesapi (1.07)
|    |         +--- org.apache.logging.log4j (2.17.2)
|    |         \--- org.apache.commons.collections4 (4.4)
|    +--- org.example.product.coruscant
|    |    +--- com.fasterxml.jackson.annotation (2.13.4)
|    |    +--- com.fasterxml.jackson.databind (2.13.4)
|    |    |    +--- com.fasterxml.jackson.annotation (2.13.4)
|    |    |    \--- com.fasterxml.jackson.core (2.13.4)
|    |    +--- com.google.common (30.1-jre)
|    |    +--- java.inject (1.0.5)
|    |    +--- com.fasterxml.jackson.core (2.13.4)
|    |    +--- com.fasterxml.jackson.datatype.jsr310 (2.13.4)
|    |    |    +--- com.fasterxml.jackson.annotation (2.13.4)
|    |    |    +--- com.fasterxml.jackson.core (2.13.4)
|    |    |    \--- com.fasterxml.jackson.databind (2.13.4) (*)
|    |    +--- jakarta.activation (1.2.2)
|    |    +--- jakarta.mail (1.6.7)
|    |    |    \--- jakarta.activation (1.2.2)
|    |    \--- org.slf4j (2.0.3)
|    \--- velocity.engine.core (2.3)
|         +--- org.apache.commons.lang3 (3.11)
|         \--- org.slf4j (2.0.3)
+--- org.example.product.corellia (*)
+--- org.example.product.kamino
|    \--- org.example.product.coruscant (*)
+--- org.example.product.kashyyyk
|    +--- org.example.product.naboo
|    +--- org.example.product.tatooine
|    +--- org.example.product.bespin (*)
|    \--- org.example.product.kamino (*)
+--- org.example.product.naboo
+--- org.example.product.tatooine
+--- jakarta.servlet (6.0.0)
\--- org.slf4j (2.0.3)

$ ./gradlew :app:analyzeModulePath -q

[INFO] All Java Modules required by this project
================================================
com.fasterxml.jackson.annotation -> com.fasterxml.jackson.core:jackson-annotations (2.13.2)
com.fasterxml.jackson.core -> com.fasterxml.jackson.core:jackson-core (2.13.2)
com.fasterxml.jackson.databind -> com.fasterxml.jackson.core:jackson-databind (2.13.2)
org.apache.logging.log4j -> org.apache.logging.log4j:log4j-api (2.14.0)
org.apache.xmlbeans -> org.apache.xmlbeans:xmlbeans (5.0.1)
org.apiguardian.api -> org.apiguardian:apiguardian-api (1.1.2)
org.junit.jupiter.api -> org.junit.jupiter:junit-jupiter-api (5.8.2)
org.junit.jupiter.engine -> org.junit.jupiter:junit-jupiter-engine (5.8.2)
org.junit.platform.commons -> org.junit.platform:junit-platform-commons (1.8.2)
org.junit.platform.engine -> org.junit.platform:junit-platform-engine (1.8.2)
org.junit.platform.launcher -> org.junit.platform:junit-platform-launcher (1.8.2)
org.my.app -> project :app
org.my.lib -> project :lib
org.opentest4j -> org.opentest4j:opentest4j (1.2.0)
org.slf4j -> org.slf4j:slf4j-api (1.7.28)
org.slf4j.simple -> org.slf4j:slf4j-simple (1.7.28)

[WARN] Components that are NOT Java Modules
===========================================
commons-cli:commons-cli (1.5.0)

Notes / Options:
  - This may be ok if you use the Classpath (aka ALL-UNNAMED) in addition to the Module Path (automatic modules can see ALL-UNNAMED)
  - Remove the dependencies or upgrade to higher versions
  - Patch legacy Jars to Modules: https://github.com/gradlex-org/extra-java-module-info

Migrate existing Java projects to Java Modules

The plugin provides a generateAllModuleInfoFiles task for each project that applies it. You can use that to generate an initial module-info.java from the dependencies declared in Gradle. This is not a sophisticated migration tool, but useful, in combination with analyzeModulePath, to explore what it would take to migrate an existing project to Modules.

Integration with the Extra Java Module Info plugin

This plugin integrates with the Extra Java Module Info plugin if both are applied. Module Name mappings for Jars that were patched with extra module info will be automatically registered.

plugins {
    id("org.gradlex.extra-java-module-info")
    id("org.gradlex.java-module-dependencies")
}

extraJavaModuleInfo {
    automaticModule("org.apache.commons:commons-math3", "commons.math3")
    // Module Dependencies plugin automatically knows that 
    // 'commons.math3' now maps to 'org.apache.commons:commons-math3'
}

Using Gradle's configuration cache

This plugin reads all your module-info.java files during build configuration. This is, because they provide the additional dependency information for setting up the build correctly. The files are rather small and we do not extract all the information from them (only the dependencies). Therefore, it should not have much configuration time performance impact even on larger builds.

However, if you enable (the currently experimental) configuration cache feature of Gradle, the result of the configuration phase is cached, avoiding parsing module-info.java files again in a successive build run.

org.gradle.configuration-cache=true

Disclaimer

Gradle and the Gradle logo are trademarks of Gradle, Inc. The GradleX project is not endorsed by, affiliated with, or associated with Gradle or Gradle, Inc. in any way.