that's absurd. 1) I can't embed code in XML. 2) Why should I use a format that takes 5x as much space to declare something as a more usable format?
I wonder if anyone said this about HTML when javascript was introduced?
once a system starts getting complicated you inevitably need code.
two points:
* gradle builds can be completely declarative. you write code only if you need it
* builds also are often used for very specific automation. in ant, you end up having to write custom ant tasks. this is fairly painful compared to just creating new classes, tasks, or scripts directly in gradle.
After all you can do functional programming in any language. Why do you need another.