I can declare a type for a gradle task and doing so seems to inherit some methods. For example:
task myCopyTask(type: Copy){ from "foo" into "bar" } So, I think myCopyTask is an instance of org.gradle.api.tasks.Copy class, yes? And if I declare a task without any type, it is an instance of org.gradle.api.DefaultTask? Sorry for the basic question. I have been reading the gradle guide like this page but it isn't clear to me what type: exactly is.
To get the type of an existing task, you can make use of Gradle's built-in help task using the --task command line option. The --task option takes in a task path for any task in the project. Here is an example using the help task on itself:
# ./gradlew help --task help > Task :help Detailed task information for help Path :help Type Help (org.gradle.configuration.Help) Options --task The task to show help for. Description Displays a help message. Group help 
It's already answered but this might help to understand as well.
They're the subclasses of the type Task. Once you define a type for your task, you get to access/set/configure that particular task's properties. In your case, this is a subclass called "Copy" (as you've already kinda figure out).
Note: Tasks are shipped with various plugins or written by you.
Why not just add a println and find out yourself?
task myCopyTask(type: Copy) { ... } println "Type is $myCopyTask.class.name" 
