What is the purpose of Gradle in Android development?

Gradle plays a crucial role in Android development as it manages project dependencies and build configurations. It is a build automation tool that allows developers to define how their projects are structured and how the various components interact. With Gradle, you can specify libraries and modules your project relies on, ensuring that the necessary files are included during the build process. Additionally, Gradle supports different build variants and configurations for different versions of an app (such as debug and release), making it easier to manage complex projects.

By facilitating dependency management, Gradle automatically resolves and fetches libraries from repositories (like Maven Central or JCenter), which saves developers from manually handling these tasks. It also streamlines the build process, allowing developers to easily configure their projects and automate repetitive tasks, ultimately improving productivity and consistency across builds.