The consequence is that a dependency which is assigned to the `implementation` configuration of a library _does not end up on the compile classpath of the consumer_.
On the other hand, a dependency which is assigned to the `api` configuration of a library _would end up on the compile classpath of the consumer_.
At _runtime_, however, all dependencies are required.

It is similar to https://maven.apache.org/pom.html[Apache Maven™'s POM file] or https://ant.apache.org/ivy/[Apache Ivy™ ivy.xml] files.
The goal of metadata files is to provide _to consumers_ a reasonable model of what is published on a repository.

Gradle Module Metadata is a unique format aimed at improving dependency resolution by making it multi-platform and variant-aware.