update the Gradle build tool to v8.14.4

[stephengold]

Currently Gradle v8.8 is specified, which supports building on (and with) Java 1.8 through 22.

This change causes Gradle v8.14.4 to be used instead. This should allow the Engine to be built on (and with) Java 23 and 24.

In order to support Java 25+ build environments, we'd need to upgrade to Gradle v9, but unfortunately the latest production release of JMonkeyEngine SDK (3.8.0) is based on NetBeans 25, which doesn't work right with Gradle v9. Also, the current build scripts are incompatible with Gradle v9 because they use some deprecated Gradle features (such as auto-loading test framework implementation dependencies).

[gemini-code-assist]

Summary of Changes

Hello, I'm Gemini Code Assist¹! I'm currently reviewing this pull request and will post my feedback shortly. In the meantime, here's a summary to help you and other reviewers quickly get up to speed!

This pull request updates the project's Gradle build tool to version 8.14.4. This essential upgrade ensures compatibility with newer Java environments, specifically Java 23 and 24, allowing the project to leverage the latest language features and improvements. The change was carefully implemented to avoid breaking compatibility with the current JMonkeyEngine SDK and existing build scripts, which are not yet ready for Gradle v9.

Highlights

• Gradle Version Update: The Gradle build tool has been updated from version 8.8 to 8.14.4.
• Java Version Support: This update enables building the Engine with Java versions 23 and 24.
• Compatibility Considerations: An upgrade to Gradle v9 was avoided due to incompatibility with JMonkeyEngine SDK 3.8.0 (NetBeans 25) and existing build scripts using deprecated Gradle features.

Changelog

• gradle/wrapper/gradle-wrapper.properties
  • Updated the distributionUrl to https://services.gradle.org/distributions/gradle-8.14.4-bin.zip.
• gradlew
  • Added SPDX-License-Identifier: Apache-2.0.
  • Modified the APP_HOME calculation to use printf '%s\n' "$PWD" for current directory.
  • Changed CLASSPATH initialization to an empty string.
  • Updated the Gradle execution command to use -jar with gradle-wrapper.jar instead of -classpath with org.gradle.wrapper.GradleWrapperMain.
• gradlew.bat
  • Added SPDX-License-Identifier: Apache-2.0.
  • Cleared the CLASSPATH variable.
  • Updated the Gradle execution command to use -jar with gradle-wrapper.jar.

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[gemini-code-assist]

Code Review

This pull request updates the Gradle build tool from version 8.8 to 8.14.4. The changes include updating the distributionUrl in gradle/wrapper/gradle-wrapper.properties and modifying the gradlew and gradlew.bat scripts. These script changes are standard for a Gradle wrapper update, such as switching to using the -jar option for launching Gradle. The changes are correct and align with the stated goal of the pull request.

[stephengold]

I believe this is ready to be integrated into the "master" branch.

@yaRnMcDonuts if you would like me to perform the merge, let me know.