Update Gradle 9.6.1, Java 17, dependencies and add publish workflow

[AkaZver]

Summary

Major update bringing Gradle 9.6.1, Java 17, latest dependencies, and automated publishing to Gradle Plugin Portal.

Major updates

Gradle & Java

• Update Gradle wrapper from 8.14.5 to 9.6.1
• Update Java source/target compatibility from 8 to 17

Dependencies

• Update io.freefair.lombok plugin from 8.14.4 to 9.5.0
• Update JUnit Jupiter from 5.14.4 to 6.1.2
• Update JUnit Platform Launcher from 1.14.4 to 6.1.2
• Update all project dependencies to latest versions

CI/CD improvements

GitHub Actions

• Add publish job to workflow for Gradle Plugin Portal
• Add tag-based release automation with GitHub Release creation
• Publish only runs for tags matching [0-9]+.[0-9]+.[0-9]+\ on master branch
• Add build artifacts (JaCoCo coverage + compiled classes) upload/download between build and sonarcloud jobs
• Update all GitHub Actions to latest versions:
  • \�ctions/checkout@v7\
  • \�ctions/cache@v6\
  • \�ctions/setup-java@v5\
  • \�ctions/upload-artifact@v7\
  • \�ctions/download-artifact@v8\

SonarQube

• Add \sonar.java.binaries\ and \sonar.java.test.binaries\ properties for better SonarQube analysis
• Upload compiled classes as build artifacts for SonarCloud analysis
• Fix SonarCloud quality gate failure due to 0% coverage (now 100%)

Code quality

• Modernize Java code: use .toList()\ instead of \Collectors.toList()\
• Add @NotNull\ annotation to MapstructPlugin generic type
• Add @SuppressWarnings\ for ClassCanBeRecord in CompilerArgsManager
• Fix DependencyTest to handle dynamic Lombok version from plugin

Documentation

• Update README badges for Java 17 and Gradle 9.6.1
• Add Kotlin DSL example to Config section in README
• Add SECURITY.md with security policy

Other changes

• Update license year to 2026
• Add \hs_err_pid*.log\ and
  eplay_pid*.log\ to .gitignore

Testing

• All 15 tests passing (3 CompilerArgsTest + 12 DependencyTest)
• Build successful with no warnings
• SonarCloud quality gate: OK (100% coverage on new code)
• All Node.js deprecation warnings eliminated

[sonarqubecloud]

Quality Gate passed

Issues
0 New issues
0 Accepted issues

Measures
0 Security Hotspots
100.0% Coverage on New Code
0.0% Duplication on New Code

See analysis details on SonarQube Cloud