# CUBA Platform [CUBA Platform](https://www.cuba-platform.com) is a high level framework for rapid development of enterprise applications with rich web interface. The simplest way to start using the platform is to [download](https://www.cuba-platform.com/download) CUBA Studio and create a new project in it. A released version of the platform will be downloaded automatically from the artifact repository. You can also build a snapshot version of the platform from the source code and use it in your project. ## Building from Source In order to build the platform from source, you need to install the following: * Java 8 Development Kit (JDK) * [Gradle](https://gradle.org) (tested on 2.6, but newer versions may also work) * [CUBA Gradle Plugin](https://github.com/cuba-platform/cuba-gradle-plugin) Let's assume that you have cloned CUBA Gradle Plugin and CUBA into the following directories: ``` work/ cuba/ cuba-gradle-plugin/ ``` Open terminal in the `work` directory and run the following command to build and install the plugin into your local Maven repository (`~/.m2`): ``` cd cuba-gradle-plugin gradle install ``` After that, go to the CUBA directory and build and install it with the same command: ``` cd ../cuba gradle install ``` ## Using Snapshot Version Edit the `build.gradle` file of your project. Change the `ext.cubaVersion` property and add `mavenLocal()` to the `repositories` section, for example: ``` buildscript { ext.cubaVersion = '6.2-SNAPSHOT' repositories { mavenLocal() maven { ... ``` That's all. Now you can generate IDE project files and build and deploy your application based on the snapshot version of the platform from your local repository: ``` gradle idea gradle deploy ```