The latest articles on Forem by Srikar Sunchu (@srikarsunchu). https://forem.com/srikarsunchu https://media2.dev.to/dynamic/image/width=90,height=90,fit=cover,gravity=auto,format=auto/https:%2F%2Fdev-to-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fuploads%2Fuser%2Fprofile_image%2F3707721%2F1c4947cb-3e4f-49a0-8dfd-9e0e94f1cdae.jpeg https://forem.com/srikarsunchu en Srikar Sunchu Tue, 13 Jan 2026 01:55:23 +0000 https://forem.com/srikarsunchu/i-got-tired-of-waiting-for-gradle-so-i-built-a-runtime-that-runs-kotlin-like-python-10nl https://forem.com/srikarsunchu/i-got-tired-of-waiting-for-gradle-so-i-built-a-runtime-that-runs-kotlin-like-python-10nl <p>I hit <code>./gradlew run</code> and alt-tab to Discord. By the time I tab back, it's still resolving dependencies. This is a script. It's 40 lines.</p> <p>So I helped build something that doesn't make me wait. <a href="https://github.com/elide-dev/elide" rel="noopener noreferrer">Elide</a>.</p> <h2> What is Elide? </h2> <p>Elide is a runtime. Like Node. Like Python. You install it, you run code.<br> </p> <div class="highlight js-code-highlight"> <pre class="highlight shell"><code>curl <span class="nt">-sSL</span> elide.sh | bash </code></pre> </div> <p>But here's the thing: it doesn't just run one language.<br> </p> <div class="highlight js-code-highlight"> <pre class="highlight shell"><code>elide run app.kt <span class="c"># Kotlin, no Gradle</span> elide run server.ts <span class="c"># TypeScript, no build step</span> elide run script.py <span class="c"># Python, faster than CPython</span> </code></pre> </div> <p>One binary. One toolchain. Multiple languages.</p> <h2> Why this matters </h2> <p>Most teams aren't single-language. You've got TypeScript on the frontend, Python for ML scripts, maybe Kotlin or Java somewhere in the backend. That's three runtimes, three package managers, three sets of problems.</p> <p>Elide is one runtime that speaks all of them. Install dependencies from npm and Maven in the same project. Run tests across languages with one command. No context switching.</p> <h2> How it works </h2> <p>Elide is built on GraalVM. The same compiler optimizes across languages-JavaScript, Python, Kotlin. No serialization when crossing language boundaries. All in one engine.</p> <h2> What you can do today </h2> <ul> <li> <code>elide run</code> — run code in any supported language</li> <li> <code>elide test</code> — run tests with built-in coverage</li> <li> <code>elide install</code> — fetch from npm or Maven</li> <li> <code>elide serve</code> — spin up a fast polyglot server</li> <li>Drop-in Gradle plugin for existing Java/Kotlin projects</li> </ul> <h2> Try it </h2> <p>Elide is in beta.<br> </p> <div class="highlight js-code-highlight"> <pre class="highlight shell"><code>curl <span class="nt">-sSL</span> elide.sh | bash </code></pre> </div> <p>We're on <a href="https://discord.gg/elide" rel="noopener noreferrer">Discord</a> if you want to talk, report bugs, or tell us what we're missing.<br> Here's our <a href="https://github.com/elide-dev/elide" rel="noopener noreferrer">Github</a>- if you've read this far, leave us a star :)</p> kotlin performance productivity tooling