Oliver O.

I’d say the root problem is the build tool messing with parallel test scheduling, without knowledge about the way tests are structured, or test-specific concurrency requirements. Should really be the responsibility of a test framework.

A recent discussion has led me to realize that many folks do not fully grok the parts of Gradle that can be made parallel. By default almost all of Gradle runs in a serial way.

So I wrote a post about it

www.liutikas.net/2025/07/29/P...

#gradle

Improve parallel tests concurrency · Issue #2669 · gradle/gradle When running unit tests in parallel using maxParallelForks, tests are allocated to forks statically, using a round-robin algorithm, on startup. This means that there is a chance that all your slow ...

All good points! When considering Test.setMaxParallelForks:

1. Gradle uses a suboptimal scheduling scheme: github.com/gradle/gradl...

2. Modern Kotlin test frameworks (Kotest, TestBalloon) provide fine-grained parallelism, using threads or, ideally, coroutines. (Note: I authored TestBalloon.)

Thank you so much for the kind words! I can relate. Sometimes you get to the point where a complete restart is preferable to piling fixes on top of fixes.

Thank you! 🎈 will try hard to lift Kotlin test quality to new heights.

✅️ Use new Kotlin releases as they appear, while retaining backward compatibility with Kotlin 2.0.

✅️ Write tests quickly with ease, using TestBalloon's lightweight, yet powerful and extensible API.

✅️ Be Multiplatform first and coroutines first with a single API for all platforms.

✅️ Run and debug individual tests from the editor with TestBalloon's IntelliJ IDEA plugin.

What's in it for you:

✅️ Use state-of-the-art test organization with expressive names, an unrestricted hierarchical structure, multi-level configuration, dynamic test generation, parallelism and fixtures.

✅️ Test faster without extra code generation tasks, reflection or classpath scanning.

GitHub - infix-de/testBalloon: TestBalloon is a coroutines-powered test framework providing structured testing for Kotlin Multiplatform. It is lightweight, heavy-lifting, and easy to use (like a ballo... TestBalloon is a coroutines-powered test framework providing structured testing for Kotlin Multiplatform. It is lightweight, heavy-lifting, and easy to use (like a balloon). - infix-de/testBalloon

Finally announcing a brand-new Kotlin Multiplatform test framework: TestBalloon is now ready for you to explore, built from the ground up to make writing all kinds of Kotlin tests simple and fun, everywhere!

Please share, tell me what you think!

github.com/infix-de/tes...

Great! See you there! 😃

Detrimental power struggle at work. We need to stop listening to false narratives and start looking at systems which incentivize damaging societies and the ecosystem we depend on.

Release 0.34.0 · vanniktech/gradle-maven-publish-plugin Added configuration cache support for publishing. Removed support for publishing through Sonatype OSSRH since it has been shut down. See the 0.33.0 release notes for upgrade instructions if you hav...

Version 0.34.0 of the gradle-maven-publish-plugin finally comes with configuration cache support. Dropping support for Sonatype OSSRH unblocked us from waiting for Gradle to resolve the underlying issue on their side.

github.com/vanniktech/g...

Yes, and I did not say otherwise. It's just two Gradle features that are supposed to make your life easier, but both come with fine print and slow things down.

Kotlin-dsl not reusing configuration-cache in clean builds · Issue #21265 · gradle/gradle Gradle 7.5 release announced that kotlin-dsl is CC compatible, but I have found an issue. Using an included build to create a convention plugin, written with kotlin-dsl, I want to reuse CC in clean...

Folks, who are still not convinced that kotlin-dsl is slow, might want to check this one:

github.com/gradle/gradl...

And there are other seemingly nice things that slow you down at some point:

www.zacsweers.dev/dont-use-typ...

The case against `kotlin-dsl` I fear no man. But that thing... It scares me!

A great breakdown by @mbonnin.net on why you should avoid the "kotlin-dsl" Gradle plugin. Just write your binary plugins using a normal "org.jetbrains.kotlin.jvm" plugin

mbonnin.net/2025-07-10_t...

#gradle

If you want your existing Maven publishing to arrive in 2025, this is for you. If you'd like to know more about Maven Central snapshots, Gradle isolated projects, or quality API design, this is for you as well.

🎈 TestBalloon, the new Kotlin Multiplatform test framework just got an IDE companion: plugins.jetbrains.com/plugin/27749...

Use its gutter icons to run individual tests or test suites with any level of nesting from common code on all Kotlin targets.

Next stop: Support incremental compilation.

🎈Incremental compilation will be addressed. Stay tuned.

The lightweight design seems to pay off: Kotlin 2.2.0 supported right on its release date. All Kotlin versions since 2.0.0 supported, and all Kotlin targets (even 3rd tier Native, all CI-tested).

Senior Developer for Kotlin/Wasm Compiler - JetBrains \ OpenSource Ecosystem \ Kotlin \ Kotlin Compiler - Careers

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Repost appreciated! 🙌

#Kotlin #WebAssembly #Wasm #Hiring #DevJobs

TestBalloon 🎈on the rise, even before being announced.

Zuerst mehr Ehrlichkeit in den Medien. Weniger faktisch falsche Mythenerzählungen zugunsten Hochvermögender, mehr Offenheit über Geldflüsse, ihre Hintergründe, Machtverteilung und Machtausübung.

Is it that meme you were looking for?

www.reddit.com/r/funny/comm...

GitHub - infix-de/testBalloon: TestBalloon is a coroutines-powered test framework providing structured testing for Kotlin Multiplatform. It is lightweight, heavy-lifting, and easy to use (like a ballo... TestBalloon is a coroutines-powered test framework providing structured testing for Kotlin Multiplatform. It is lightweight, heavy-lifting, and easy to use (like a balloon). - infix-de/testBalloon

I make multiplatform testing enjoyable. 🙂

github.com/infix-de/tes...

Learning more about mastering library compatibility from a master of library compatibility @mbonnin.net. Now need to do my homework and revisit my Gradle setup.

Add TestBalloon support (!134) · Merge requests · OpenSavvy / Groundwork / Prepared · GitLab Adds support for TestBalloon, a new Kotlin Multiplatform test framework authored by one of the maintainers of Kotest. Through their experience with...

Also a big shoutout to @ivcanet.bsky.social for all the inspiring discussions that made TestBalloon what it is, and for being first to use the initial release about 6 hours after its publication: gitlab.com/opensavvy/gr...

testBalloon/build-logic/src/main/kotlin/buildLogic.publishing-multiplatform.gradle.kts at 59694cc9619d0594848d660f3f73277d4ffb36a3 · infix-de/testBalloon TestBalloon is a coroutines-powered test framework providing structured testing for Kotlin Multiplatform. It is lightweight, heavy lifting, and easy to use (like a balloon). - infix-de/testBalloon

Thank you so much! I felt just the same when chatting with you. Please let me know how it works for you.

The Maven Central publication issue turned out to be what I'd consider to be a bug in the publication plugin, requiring an additional line of Gradle configuration.

github.com/infix-de/tes...

Me looking absolutely tired 🥱 after partying, discussing incremental compilation with @bashorov.com, porting the compiler plugin to 2.2.0-RC in the hotel lobby and releasing TestBalloon at 4 am from my hotel room. So much fun together with all of you folks! ❤️ #KotlinConf

I wanted to, but after spokes breaking one after another on my rear wheel, my (pretty old) bike is up for serious repair or replacement. I won't have a trustworthy solution for KotlinConf, so it'll be the train for me. But if you touch Hamburg on your way, let me know!

Der größte Denkfehler bei „Ausländerkriminalität“! Ein so weit verbreiteter Denkfehler bei Ausländerkriminalität, dass sogar die Landeskriminalämter darauf hereinfallen und sich korrigieren müssen. Und warum Deutsche in Österreich mehr als doppelt so ...

Gute Doku, der jedoch ein gewichtiger Verzerrungsaspekt fehlt. #Volksverpetzer erklärt, dass 20% der nicht-deutschen Tatverdächtigen keinen Wohnsitz in Deutschland hatten und weitere 20 bis 30 Prozent keinen festen Wohnsitz oder einen unbekannten.
www.volksverpetzer.de/faktencheck/...

👍 For sure, without considering this paranoid. Allowing a single point of failure 🧨 has never been a good idea.