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JShell Plugin

Gradle plugin that helps you to explore your code and dependencies in your gradle project with in jshell, the official Java REPL tool (Java 9+).

Hosted in the Gradle plugins site: https://plugins.gradle.org/plugin/com.github.mrsarm.jshell.plugin

⌨️ Use rlwrap to make arrow keys work (see).

Getting started

To use this plugin, add the following to your build.gradle:

plugins {
  id "com.github.mrsarm.jshell.plugin" version "1.2.1"
}

Task jshell is now enabled, which execute the jshell with your classes and dependencies after compiling your code.

You need to run the task jshell with the option --console plain. Following is an example:

$ gradle --console plain jshell

... (gradle tasks output) ...

> Task :jshell
|  Welcome to JShell -- Version 11.0.6
|  For an introduction type: /help intro

jshell> println("Hello world!")
Hello world!

jshell> _

Startup options

The shell console starts with the options --startup DEFAULT --startup PRINTING so always the following imports and functions are available:

  • java.io
  • java.math
  • java.net
  • java.nio.file
  • java.util
  • java.util.concurrent
  • java.util.function
  • java.util.prefs
  • java.util.regex
  • java.util.stream
  • print (alias of System.out.print)
  • println (alias of System.out.println)

JShell scripts

If the plugin founds at the root of the project a JShell Script named startup.jsh, it will append to the JShell session the argument --startup startup.jsh, executing at the beginning all the instructions in the script, so you can add there all the imports, object definitions or any Java instruction that you want to execute at the beginning of the session.

You can override the startup script path with the project property jshell.startup in the gradle.properties file, or set the same property directly in the command line arguments:

$ gradle --console plain jshell -Pjshell.startup=/path/to/run.jsh

If you have a startup.jsh script at the root of the project but at some point you don't want to execute it nor any other startup script within the session, just pass the jshell.startup property with an empty value: gradle --console plain jshell -Pjshell.startup=.

Spring Boot applications

The JShell plugin allows to startup a Spring Boot application within the console and access to the business object from there, but you will need to do some extra configurations, and add a dependency to the project to make easier to access to the Spring beans.

  1. Setup the plugin following the steps in the Getting started section.

  2. Add the library spring-ctx to your dependencies as follows:

    • Add the following dependency to your dependencies section:

      implementation 'com.github.mrsarm:spring-ctx:1.0.0'

    • At the end of the repositories section:

      maven { url 'https://jitpack.io' }

  3. Any Spring Boot application has a class annotated with @SpringBootApplication that is the starting point of the application, with a public static void main(String[] args) method, you need to create a startup.jsh file at the root of your project calling that method, eg:

    com.my.package.MyApplication.main(new String[]{})

    You can also add the imports of the business classes you are going to play with, as many as you have, otherwise you can import them once the JShell started:

    import com.my.package.services.MyUserService

  4. Done. You can start playing with your Spring application, you can access to the bean objects once the JShell started as following:

    $ ./gradlew --console plain jshell

  .   ____          _            __ _ _
 /\\ / ___'_ __ _ _(_)_ __  __ _ \ \ \ \
( ( )\___ | '_ | '_| | '_ \/ _` | \ \ \ \
 \\/  ___)| |_)| | | | | || (_| |  ) ) ) )
  '  |____| .__|_| |_|_| |_\__, | / / / /
 =========|_|==============|___/=/_/_/_/
 :: Spring Boot ::        (v2.2.4.RELEASE)

14:43:28.320  INFO com.my.package.MyApplication             : Starting Application on kubu1910 with PID 5225 (/projects/...
14:43:28.323 DEBUG com.my.package.MyApplication             : Running with Spring Boot v2.2.4.RELEASE, Spring v5.2.3.RELEASE
14:43:28.324  INFO com.my.package.MyApplication             : The following profiles are active: ...
14:43:30.229  INFO boot.web.embedded.tomcat.TomcatWebServer : Tomcat initialized with port(s): 8010 (http)

...
...

14:43:33.729  INFO tuate.endpoint.web.EndpointLinksResolver : Exposing 3 endpoint(s) beneath base path ''
14:43:33.811  INFO boot.web.embedded.tomcat.TomcatWebServer : Tomcat started on port(s): 8010 (http) with context path ''
14:43:33.816  INFO com.my.package.MyApplication             : Started Application in 6.995 seconds (JVM running for 10.524)

> Task :jshell
|  Welcome to JShell -- Version 11.0.6
|  For an introduction type: /help intro

jshell> var myUserService = ctx.App.getBean(MyUserService.class)

jshell> ctx.App.ppjson(myUserService.getByUsername("admin"))
{
  "name" : "Jhon",
  "lastName" : "Due",
  "username" : "admin",
  "age" : null
}

    You can add to the startup.jsh not just the call to the main method and useful imports, but also adds the bean declarations you are going to use most likely, eg. var myUserService = ctx.App.getBean(MyUserService.class), or any other snippet of Java code that may save you time running each time the JShell.

    The class ctx.App comes from the spring-ctx dependency added, checkout the documentation of all the useful methods it has to help you to play with the Spring framework.

Troubleshooting

JShell warning at startup

If you see this warning before the jshell console starts:

:jshell task :classes not found, be sure to compile the project first

Means the classes task needed to compile your project before launch jshell does not exist, just append in the command line the task needed to compile the project. Some times is the same classes task but is not detected in multi-modules projects, so you need to add it explicitly in the Gradle command:

$ gradle --console plain classes jshell

Later if you need to run again the JShell but no change to the source code was performed, you don't need to append the classes task, although the warning will still appear, just ignore it.

The console is exited once started

Currently, there is an issue#1 (and issue#4) that the plugin does not work properly with Java 12 and above, exiting the interactive console as following:

$ ./gradlew --console plain jshell
> Task :compileJava UP-TO-DATE
> Task :processResources NO-SOURCE
> Task :classes UP-TO-DATE

> Task :jshellSetup

> Task :jshell
|  Welcome to JShell -- Version 12.0.2
|  For an introduction type: /help intro

BUILD SUCCESSFUL in 1s
3 actionable tasks: 2 executed, 1 up-to-date

$ _

It's recommended to use the latest LTS: version 11, but it works with Java 9 and 10 as well. Previous versions (Java 8, 7...) are not supported because the JShell is not built-in on those versions, but if you want to run the JShell with an old project, pay special attention to the section bellow.

Although if you cannot run with a version bellow to Java 12, you are still able to run JShell scripts with the plugin, but once executed the .jsh script the interactive console will exit.

I have a JDK 9+ installation, but my default JDK is the JDK 8 or below

In that case Gradle will try to use the default JDK, and jshell is not available in Java 8 and above. Moreover the steps to change the default JDK vary depending of your system, but Gradle use the default JDK except if it's defined the $JAVA_HOME environment variable, so when you enter in a new console where you need to use your Java 9+ installation with Gradle, just export the variable with the path to the JDK installation, eg:

$ export JAVA_HOME="/usr/lib/jvm/java-11-openjdk-amd64"

The export will live just whiting the session where is defined, it does not change your system configuration globally, and calling unset JAVA_HOME or opening a new session the export will not have effect anymore.

You can even create an alias in your ~/.profile / ~/.bashrc file like: alias usejava9='export JAVA_HOME=/System/Library/Java/...' to later switch easily to the other distribution calling usejava9, or usejava8 to switch back.

Another good alternative to install and switch between different versions of Java is SdkMan!, totally recommended, and it also allows to install multiple versions of Gradle, Maven, Kotlin... and many Java based tools.

Gradle output is mixed with the jshell output in the console

If content like <-------------> 0% EXECUTING [16s] is mixed in the console with the jshell output each time you try to execute something within the jshell console, remember to pass the option --console plain to the gradle command, but if the output continues mixed up with Gradle messages, try adding the option --no-daemon to start up the jshell:

$ gradle --no-daemon --console plain jshell

Tab completion and arrow keys not working

Auto-completion does not work, and pressing arrow keys triggers weird characters in the console. Unfortunately, with the current console support from Gradle, there is no solution for this bug.

However, the JShell task can be invoked with the command rlwrap from the console to overcome the arrow keys issues:

$ rlwrap ./gradlew --console plain jshell

rlwrap takes care of the arrow keys management and history. Just remember to check you have installed it before invoking the JShell with the command the first time.

You can install rlwrap on Windows using Cygwin or MinGW, and on Linux and MacOS. For MacOS, consider installing with Homebrew: brew install rlwrap.

System Requirements

  • JDK 9+
  • Gradle

Build and Publish

ℹ️ Only for developers that want to make changes to this source code.

To compile this plugin and build the .jar locally, checkout the source code and execute:

$ ./gradlew build

The compilation must be done with the JDK 9 for general release.

Publish to your local Maven repo (normally ~/.m2/repository/):

$ ./gradlew publishToMavenLocal

Publish to plugins.gradle.org:

$ ./gradlew publishPlugins

NOTE: Because Java 9 is an old version, the command above might fail in the execution due SSL issues, in that case better to switch to Java 11 to execute only the publishPlugins command. With Java 17+ it also fails but because the plugin performs some validations before send the artifacts, but still the artifacts generated with Java 9 are valid for Java 17+.

Using from the local repo

To test local changes published to the local repo with the publishToMavenLocal task mentioned above, you need to add the plugin to the build.gradle in the project where the plugin is tested, in the following manner:

buildscript {
  repositories {
    mavenLocal()
    maven {
      url "https://plugins.gradle.org/m2/"
    }
  }
  dependencies {
    classpath "com.github.mrsarm:jshell-plugin:1.2.1"
  }
}

apply plugin: "com.github.mrsarm.jshell.plugin"

Also, when launching the plugin from another project, to see the ":jshell" logs add the --info argument in the command line, e.g.: gradle --console plain jshell --info.

About

This is a fork of the project https://github.com/bitterfox/jshell-gradle-plugin , I forked it because the original project is not receiving patches and this version solves some issues and adds the following features:

  • It works with multi-module projects.
  • There is no need to set the env variable JAVA_OPTS with a bunch of arguments "--add-exports jdk.jshell/jdk.intern...".
  • It allows to run at the beginning of the session a .jsh startup script.
  • Special support to the Spring Framework.

Project: https://github.com/mrsarm/jshell-plugin

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About

Gradle plugin to explore your code and dependencies with in jshell

plugins.gradle.org/plugin/com.github.mrsarm.jshell.plugin

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java gradle gradle-plugin java9 jshell

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1.2.1 Latest
Feb 5, 2023
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