variable $it in Gradle task : Reference : Gradle in Action book - gradle

Question

Whilke going through the book I came across this line
Groovy automatically exposes an implicit variable named it to indicate
the loop iteration index.
from the Gradle in Action book, chapter 2 Listing 2.1
The line says that $it represents loop iteration index. However when I try add
$it to println statement of task yayGradle0/1/2, it prints out the task and not the index. I'm confused about this behavior. Please guide.
3.times{
task "yayGradle$it" <<{
println 'Gradle rocks--->>>'+"$it"
}
}
The output after running task yayGradle0 is :
Gradle rocks--->>>task ':yayGradle0'

Answer 1

You are using the it variable in a different context than presented in the book. In your case you are working in the context of the task's Closure. Therefore, it represents a different object, a org.gradle.api.Task instance. It would be helpful to reference Closure delegation strategies. Please also see Appendix B in the book.

Answer 2

(edit after rereading)
it is the index in loop.
From groovy shell
3.times {
println "${it}"
}
0
1
2
In your code there is another closure, it becomes variable to that closure (which is task name)
Following example uses explicit variable at top level.
3.times{ counter->
task "hello${counter}" <<{
println 'Gradle rocks--->>>'+" ${it} ${counter}"
}
}
$gradle hello2 gets following output.
Task :hello2
Gradle rocks--->>> task ':hello2' 2
references
novice
groovy closures