On source sets with ordering of files

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1

I’m working in a language (SystemVerilog) where the order in which files are compiled is important. For example, if file2 references code from file1, then file1 has to be compiled first. I’m developing a Gradle plugin for this language.

DSL-wise, I’m not 100% sure how I’d like to configure this. At the moment I’m thinking of something very simple:

sourceSets {
    main {
        sv {
            order {    
                first 'file1'
            }
        }
    }
}

Even if I had the information needed for ordering, what would be the best way of passing it to the compile task? Currently, the actual set of files is passed using a FileTree property annotated with @InputFiles, which for the main source set gets its value from sourceSets.main.sv.

class SystemVerilogCompile {
    @InputFiles
    public FileTree getSystemVerilogSource();
    // ...
}

A FileCollection doesn’t have the concept of ordering. Would I need a separate @Input property for the task, which contains information about the desired ordering? Something like this:

class SystemVerilogCompile {
    // ...
    @Input
    public FileOrder getSystemVerilogFileOrder();
}

FileOrder would be a custom class that encodes the information passed through the order {} closure on the source set.

Is this a gradlesque solution? Is there something else already built into Gradle that I could use?