Gradle: Could not initialize class org.codehaus.groovy.runtime.InvokerHelper - android-studio

Question

I saw this gradle error: "Could not initialize class org.codehaus.groovy.runtime.InvokerHelper". I have tried multiple ways listed online to fix the issue but no luck.
During the debugging, I found weird JVM version.
Installed Java 14 and I have set the path in JAVA_HOME in bash_profile. However, gradle shows JVM 13 version. I am not sure if this cause the error: Could not initialize class org.codehaus.groovy.runtime.InvokerHelper
My java version
java version "14.0.1" 2020-04-14
Java(TM) SE Runtime Environment (build 14.0.1+7)
Java HotSpot(TM) 64-Bit Server VM (build 14.0.1+7, mixed mode, sharing)
Gradle version, but not sure why JVM shows 13
Gradle 6.5
------------------------------------------------------------
Build time: 2020-06-02 20:46:21 UTC
Revision: a27f41e4ae5e8a41ab9b19f8dd6d86d7b384dad4
Kotlin: 1.3.72
Groovy: 2.5.11
Ant: Apache Ant(TM) version 1.10.7 compiled on September 1 2019
JVM: **13.0.2 (Oracle Corporation 13.0.2+8)**
OS: Mac OS X 10.14.6 x86_64
Gradle error
npx react-native run-android
info Running jetifier to migrate libraries to AndroidX. You can disable it using "--no-jetifier" flag.
Jetifier found 960 file(s) to forward-jetify. Using 4 workers...
info JS server already running.
info Launching emulator...
info Successfully launched emulator.
info Installing the app...
FAILURE: Build failed with an exception.
* What went wrong:
Could not initialize class org.codehaus.groovy.runtime.InvokerHelper
* Try:
Run with --stacktrace option to get the stack trace. Run with --info or --debug option to get more log output. Run with --scan to get full insights.
* Get more help at https://help.gradle.org
BUILD FAILED in 3s
error Failed to install the app. Make sure you have the Android development environment set up: https://reactnative.dev/docs/environment-setup. Run CLI with --verbose flag for more details.
Error: Command failed: ./gradlew app:installDebug -PreactNativeDevServerPort=8081
FAILURE: Build failed with an exception.
* What went wrong:
Could not initialize class org.codehaus.groovy.runtime.InvokerHelper
* Try:
Run with --stacktrace option to get the stack trace. Run with --info or --debug option to get more log output. Run with --scan to get full insights.
* Get more help at https://help.gradle.org
BUILD FAILED in 3s

Answer 1

change the version of the gradle
edit the file in YOUR_PROJECT/android/gradle/wrapper/gradle-wrapper.properties and change the version
FROM:
distributionUrl=https://services.gradle.org/distributions/gradle-6.0.1-all.zip
TO:
distributionUrl=https://services.gradle.org/distributions/gradle-6.4.1-all.zip
source: https://github.com/gradle/gradle/issues/10248#issuecomment-633656326

Answer 2

Gradle is very specific about the Java Version. We need to check the compatibility matrix and set the java version to be needed by the gradle version.
https://docs.gradle.org/current/userguide/compatibility.html
The issues related to starting a gradle daemon are mostly because of JAVA. We don't need to upgrade or downgrade gradle version. No change in settings file needed.

Answer 3

You need to change the Gradle version of your project.
It's mentioned in the official docs: https://reactnative.dev/docs/environment-setup
"If you're using the latest version of Java Development Kit, you'll need to change the Gradle version of your project so it can recognize the JDK. You can do that by going to {project root folder}\android\gradle\wrapper\gradle-wrapper.properties and changing the distributionUrl value to upgrade the Gradle version. You can check out here the lastest releases of Gradle."
or see this image

Answer 4

The above mentioned error is very similar to what I faced when starting off with react-native development. This error is caused due to incompatible JAVA JDK and Gradle version in the project. Head to ./android/gradle/wrapper/gradle-properties ..... and change the
required gradle version.