The Java development community is buzzing about a new experimental Gradle plugin that claims to dramatically speed up compilation times by replacing traditional javac with a native binary approach. The Elide Gradle Plugin leverages GraalVM's native image technology to eliminate JIT warmup delays that typically slow down Java compilation in standard build processes.
Native Binary Eliminates JIT Warmup Bottleneck
The core innovation behind Elide's performance gains lies in its approach to Java compilation. Instead of using Gradle's default Tooling API, which runs javac within the Gradle daemon's JVM and suffers from JIT warmup delays, Elide uses a native binary version of the compiler. This means compilation starts immediately at full speed without waiting for the Java Virtual Machine to optimize the code through Just-In-Time compilation.
The plugin works by configuring Gradle's JavaCompile tasks to fork processes and use a custom executable that calls elide javac instead of the standard javac. Since Elide is built as a GraalVM native image, it skips the entire JIT warmup phase that normally slows down small to medium-sized compilation jobs.
Technical Requirements
- Elide must be installed separately
- Manual
javacshim creation inJAVA_HOME/bin/elide-javac elide.pklmanifest file required for dependency management- Compatible with JDK 8+ through
--source/--target/--releaseflags
Significant Performance Improvements for Smaller Projects
Community discussions reveal that the performance benefits are most pronounced for projects under 10,000 classes. In these scenarios, the plugin can deliver up to 20x faster compilation compared to stock javac. This makes it particularly valuable for typical enterprise applications and smaller codebases where JIT warmup overhead represents a significant portion of total build time.
The performance advantage stems from the fact that many Java projects never reach the threshold where JIT optimization becomes beneficial. Gradle's focus on incremental compilation and build caching, while helpful for other reasons, actually works against reaching the warm JIT state that would make traditional javac competitive.
Performance Claims
- Up to 20x faster compilation than stock
javac - Most effective for projects under 10,000 classes
- Native binary eliminates JIT warmup delays
- Optimized HTTP handling for dependency resolution
Dependency Resolution Gets Native Speed Boost
Beyond compilation, Elide also accelerates Maven dependency resolution by embedding Maven's resolver in a native binary. The plugin can replace Gradle's dependency fetching mechanism entirely, downloading JARs to a local Maven-compatible repository structure that Gradle can then use directly.
Gradle seems confined to HTTP/1.1 and poor connection pooling even today, so it's not that hard to beat.
This approach provides identical resolution semantics to Maven while delivering faster performance through native execution and optimized HTTP handling.
Plugin Configuration Options
enableInstall: Use Elide's Maven resolver (default: true when elide.pkl present)enableJavaCompiler: Use Elide for Java compilation (default: true)enableProjectIntegration: Enable Elide project awareness (default: configurable)manifest: Path to project manifest file (default: elide.pkl)
Installation Requires Manual Setup Steps
Currently, using the plugin requires creating a manual shim in the JAVA_HOME directory that redirects javac calls to elide javac. Users must also install Elide separately before using the plugin. The development team acknowledges this setup complexity and plans to eliminate the JAVA_HOME shim requirement in future versions.
The plugin also requires an elide.pkl manifest file for dependency management when using the enhanced dependency resolution features, though this limitation is expected to change as the project matures.
The Elide Gradle Plugin represents an interesting approach to solving Java's cold-start compilation performance issues. While still experimental and requiring some manual setup, it offers compelling performance improvements for developers working with typical Java project sizes. As the tooling matures and setup becomes simpler, it could become an attractive option for teams looking to speed up their build processes without changing their fundamental development workflow.
Reference: Elide Gradle Plugin