idx = 0
                }
                currentBatch = nextBatch.batchName
                return next()
            }

            // an alternative to Groovy's permutations method which is reproducible
            private static List<List<RenderableVersion>> permutations(Batch nextBatch) {
                def generator = new PermutationGenerator<>(nextBatch.versions)

[[sec:ant_properties]]
== Using Ant properties and references

Types of the Java SE API, types of the Kotlin stdlib, and Groovy's GString are not supported, because they meet neither of those requirements.

        'GString'  | ''                 | 'GString.EMPTY'                                  | 'groovy.lang.GString$1' | "Groovy's GString type is not supported as a nested type."

Alternatively, you can write plugins and tasks in a statically compiled language such as Java or Kotlin.

*Warning:* Gradle's Groovy DSL relies heavily on Groovy’s dynamic features. To use static compilation in your plugins, switch to Java-like syntax.

The following example defines a task that copies files without dynamic features:

====
.src/main/groovy/MyPlugin.groovy

- `groovy-nio`
- `groovy-sql`
- `groovy-templates`
- `groovy-test`
- `groovy-xml`

But the following Groovy modules are *not* included:

- `groovy-cli-picocli`
- `groovy-docgenerator`
- `groovy-groovysh`
- `groovy-jmx`
- `groovy-jsr223`
- `groovy-macro`
- `groovy-servlet`
- `groovy-swing`
- `groovy-test-junit5`
- `groovy-testng`

 * You can no longer use GPath syntax with link:{javadocPath}/org/gradle/api/tasks/TaskCollection.html#withType-java.lang.Class-[tasks.withType()].
+
Use https://docs.groovy-lang.org/latest/html/documentation/#_spread_operator[Groovy's spread operator] instead.
For example, you would replace `tasks.withType(JavaCompile).name` with `tasks.withType(JavaCompile)*.name`.

[[changes_4.8]]
== Upgrading from 4.7 and earlier

The first is a minor inconvenience, but slashy strings have the advantage that you don't have to escape backslash ('\') characters in the regular expression.
The second issue stems from Groovy's support for embedded expressions using `${ }` syntax in double-quoted and slashy strings.
--

The closure syntax for `rename()` is straightforward and can be used for any requirements that simple regular expressions can't handle.