determine gradle version

gradle_after

    // returns true if greater, null if equal, false otherwise
    def gradleAfter = {
        [
            gradle.gradleVersion.tokenize('.')*.toInteger(),
            it.toString().tokenize('.')*.toInteger()
        ].transpose().inject(null){ result, item ->
            result != null ?:
               (item[0] > item[1] ?: item[0] == item[1] ? null : false);
        }
    }

when you need to use a new method in a later gradle version, try as follow:

if (gradleAfter(1.8) ) {
    // TODO invoke newly added methods
}