@nik9000 Just to add: The JVM is very good about loading classes from the same jar only once. However, it is possible to get into situations where different versions of the same jar(s) are on the classpath that cause `ClassNotFound` issues (because of a lack of isolation, which can be solved with class loaders) because the different versions cannot coexist. My major point that I was trying to get at is that I believe this is a server side dependency only, and that should mean that there will never be a chance for collision _except in the embedded use case_ (ignoring any potential forked projects that use Groovy, which should just drop whichever one they want to drop).

I think the embedded concern is what makes me push +1 for shading as well, although I think it would be preferable if we could avoid shading because it would be lighter weight given its intended-to-be optional nature.