The Java Library Plugin

The Java Library plugin expands the capabilities of the Java Plugin (java) by providing specific knowledge about Java libraries. In particular, a Java library exposes an API to consumers (i.e., other projects using the Java or the Java Library plugin). All the source sets, tasks and configurations exposed by the Java plugin are implicitly available when using this plugin.

[nagaitakeyuki]

implementation と api の使い分け [gradle]

[webarata3]

“The compile configuration still exists but should not be used as it will not offer the guarantees that the api and implementation configurations provide.”