Should I master maven or start learning gradle : <p>The project I'm working on uses Maven as a build tool. I know the basic concepts like profiles, pom inheritance, modules, plugins, goals, phases and so on the surface, but I'm still missing the true craftsmanship to implement complicated builds from a starch for different environments.</p>

<p>Now, should I become Maven expert or start learning Gradle instead of unveiling all technical nuances of Maven? </p>

<p>I don't see what value Gradle brings on the table. It is configured programmatically, but could this actually be evil? I have worked in Javascript world and used tools like Gulp and Webpack. The programmatic configuration in those tools was just a horrible mess and lacked consistency. It wasn't possible to form a clear mental picture of the configuration, as it was dynamic code, not a static document. When you had to make a change, it wasn't so obvious where to find that line of code handling that functionality. Well defined XML document is self describing, organized and easily grepable.</p>

<p>Also, by programmatic configuration, there is a higher change to introduce bug in the build itself. Will there be a time, when builds become so complex that it's necessary to build the build configuration of the project?</p>

<p>Considering these aspects, is there some pragmatic reason start using Gradle (other than following the trend)? </p>
