Gradle vs. Maven: Which one is the best option for Android development

As google recommends to use gradle with AndroidStudio I would suggest to stick with that: https://developer.android.com/studio/build/ Back in the days when Android apps where build in eclipse with a plugin provided by google the build system used was ant. I would think that the build process of Android Apps differs enough from the standard Java build cycle it makes sense to use a tool with more expressive capacity then s maven.

Gradle is a build automation system that uses a domain-specific language based on the programming language Groovy.

Maven is used for project build automation using Java which uses XML for its project configuration.

Maven vs. Gradle

Fundamental differences:

• Gradle is based on a graph of task dependencies–in which tasks are the things that do the work.
• Maven is based on a fixed and linear model of phases (clean install package deploy, etc.).

Other differences include build customization ability, dependency vs. directory structure, integrations and user experience.

Customized builds

In Maven it's easy to find dependencies, but harder to customize the build (in a big project the POM can be unreadable) than in Gradle.

Dependency management and directory structure

Maven uses dependency management and Gradle uses the directory structure. Both are clear and easy to maintain.

Plugins and integrations

There are more available plugins in Maven Central compared to the number of them available for Gradle.

Performance

Gradel is faster (build, test, etc.)

User Experience

Maven's longer tenure means that its support through IDEs is better for many users.

Sources:

• Gradle

• Dzone