As the sphere of media streaming continuously grows, it also gives software engineers the abilities to design and operate complicated streaming applications. As a widely adopted content delivery means, The Wowza Streaming Engine stands out as a dynamic and efficient media server that allows the provision of superior quality video and audio streaming. Nevertheless, the use of Wowza projects is not simple, especially in aspects of automation and dependency management. That is why, the Wowza Gradle Plugin has been developed for. This allows easier building and handling of Wowza projects with Gradle wi thout changing the way Gradle works in a number of aspects.
This guide is dedicated to the analysis of the Wowza Gradle Plugin, its distinctive features and how the Plugin integrates into the development process.
What is Wowza Streaming Engine?
Wowza Streaming Engine is developed to cater the requirement of streaming video content – live or On Demand. It caters a highly adaptive and expandable system for a number of recording offerings like IPTV, video conferencing, live sports telecasts etc. Wowza has some good versatility as it enables many protocols and formats for streaming such as RTMP, HLS, MPEG-DASH, WebRTC etc.
What is Gradle?
Even if the primary intention is to use it on Java projects, Gradle is a build management tool that can be used on many other languages as well. It endeavors to assist users in a cost-effective kinetic fashion by making it easier to and optimizing processes that make up software building, testing and distribution. Some salient features of Gradle are its customizable properties and incremental builds which makes it an efficient system for managing large scale applications.
Overview of Wowza Gradle Plugin
The principal objective of the Wowza Gradle Plugin is to provide an added functionality to developers working on Wowza Streaming Engine projects. In this case, the addition of the Gradle build system to the Wowza Streaming Engine, is that you can perform operations such as compiling, creating, packaging and deploying Wowza modules.
Key Features of Wowza Gradle Plugin
- Automation: Takes the manual labor out of creating and deploying of Wowza modules.
- Dependency Management: Integrates an external libraries and dependencies using Gradle dependency management.
- Customizable Tasks: Users or developers usually have their own preferences that are seldom standard for most people; hence, custom-built tasks can be designed.
- Version Control: Helps in keeping track of plugin versions and what they do to the with respect to the Wowza Streaming Engine.
- Seamless Integration: Works smoothly with related other Gradle plugins and tools for greater improvements on the development.
Setting Up the Wowza Gradle Plugin
Prerequisites
Before you even think about getting started with Wowza Gradle Plugin, you will need the following:
Wowza Streaming Engine installed on your system.
Gradle installed (it’s possible to install it from the official website or use Gradle Wrapper within your project).
Java Development Kit (JDK) version 8 or higher.
Step-by-Step Setup Process
Create a New Wowza Module Project:
Start off with making a new folder for your Wowza project which, make sure with this folder you’ll create a new Gradle project as follows in the terminal:
Add the Wowza Gradle Plugin to Your Project.
Open the build.gradle file in your project and add the Wowza Gradle Plugin. The plugin may be found on repositories such as Maven Central or Gradle Plugin Portal. For instance, you can include the following after your build.gradle:
Define Your Wowza Module In the src/main/java directory, create your Wowza module class. The WOWZA module created here will hence run the logic that runs against your own Wowza Streaming Engine instance.
Setup the Wowza Gradle Plugin:
Integrate the Wowza Gradle Plugin as it provides you a way to manage the various parameters of your build. Add the following configuration to your build.gradle file to customize your build process:
Run the Build:
In such case once the project is set there is the possibility to build it by using the Gradle build task. It will compile your Wowza module and wrap it into a .jar file ready for deployment.
Deploy wowza Module:
Once the build execution is completed successfully the resultant .jar may be uploaded to Wowza Streaming Engine application. Other plug in might also allow such .jar file to be deployed directly to the wowza lib.
Benefits of Using the Wowza Gradle Plugin
The Wowza Gradle Plugin contains a number of benefits for Wowza developers:
Workflow Optimization
The developer will benefit so much because much of the burden that includes building, packaging, or deploying modules has been handled by the Wowza Gradle Plugin. Because Gradle is an incremental build process, the developer will snap back to work because he/she will compile only that amount of code that has supposedly been altered.
Increased External Library Use
Adding external libraries to your projects is made quite easy because of Gradle’s strong dependency management ability. This ability is included in the Wowza Gradle Plugin thus third party dependencies in Wowza modules are quite easy to include.
Efficient and Practical
Thanks to its flexibility, Gradle is able to support new tasks. Project developers may design individual tasks which must be performed irrespective of general tasks. Let’s say you may build custom tasks for a specified wowza module’s testing, linting or deployment of particular built versions.
Installability
In the case of the large Wowza based application projects the API easing the complexity of the development process enables the user of the Wowza Gradle Plugin to confidently undertake multi module projects, which is enviable. Its elasticity allows it to fit the insatiable nature of projects ranging from very difficult undertakings to very simple applications.
Conclusion
As an extension of the developer tools provided by Wowza, the Wowza Gradle Plugin is the great grab for any developer using Wowza Streaming Engine. As a part of doing so, this plugin makes it easy to create and deploy Wowza modules by taking advantage of Gradle’s robust build automation capabilities. No matter if you are resolving dependency issues, handling deployment with ease or modifying build tasks to fit your requirements, the Wowza Gradle Plugin helps your workflow and maximizes productivity in all Wowza-based projects.
With Regards to Build Processes, It reduces the burden of the developers due to their deep integration of Code and Non-Code management enhancement tools. Any Developer working with a Wowza Streaming Engine must have this plugin for its flexibility, scalability, and compatibility with modern development workflow.
