Change boilerplate for new Gradle module with IntelliJ

Question

What's the best way to streamline the creation of new modules in a Gradle project with IntelliJ?

Every time I create a new Gradle module I have a small todo list before I write any code. Whenever I create a new library module, I do the following after IntelliJ does its normal boilerplate setup.

1. Apply the java-library plugin (and often checkerframework).
2. Add lombok preprocessors.
3. Add dependency compileOnly 'org.slf4j:slf4j-api:${slf4jVersion}'.
4. Bump JUnit version.
5. Add testing dependencies.
   • testImplementation 'org.junit.jupiter:junit-jupiter-params:${junitVersion}'
   • testRuntimeOnly 'ch.qos.logback:logback-classic:${logbackVersion}'
6. Copy-paste standard config to src/test/resources/logback-test.xml.
7. Create empty packages at src/main/java and src/test/java with the same name as the group name.

This only takes a few minutes each time, but I have gotten annoyed enough to spend time writing this question in search of better way.

I don't know the best way to begin to approach this. I don't even know if I should be looking for a solution through Gradle or IntelliJ. I have found info about structuring projects, creating templates, custom tasks, custom plugins, etc. I feel this must be a common enough task that there is an established best practice.

I'm not asking for much technical detail about how to implement the solution. I can probably figure it out once I know what kind of solution to use.

Answer 1

You can try to do it in the following way:

• File | New | Project | New Project | Gradle

• Add the needed configuration

• File | New Project Setup | Save Project as Template

• Create a new project using a custom template.

• Open your main project and add a new project as module under File | Project Structure | Modules | + | Import Module

Repeat the last two steps when adding a new module with a custom setup.