diff --git a/.gitignore b/.gitignore
index fce08bf..66c6d02 100644
--- a/.gitignore
+++ b/.gitignore
@@ -1,20 +1,23 @@
+# All directories should end in / (information used by ide.gradle)
+
 # Ant
-ant
+ant/
 
 # Gradle
-build
+.gradle/
+build/
 
 # Maven
-target
+target/
 
 # Eclipse
 .classpath
 .project
-.settings
-bin
+.settings/
+bin/
 
 # IDEA
 *.iws
 *.ipr
 *.iml
-out
\ No newline at end of file
+out/
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/build.gradle b/build.gradle
index 8c13be1..2772b85 100755
--- a/build.gradle
+++ b/build.gradle
@@ -1,44 +1,39 @@
 apply plugin: "groovy"
-apply plugin: "idea"
-apply plugin: "eclipse"
 
 version = "0.6-SNAPSHOT"
 description = "Spock Framework - Example Project"
 
 repositories {
-  // Spock release versions are available from Maven Central
+  // Spock releases are available from Maven Central
   mavenCentral()
-  // only required if a snapshot version of Spock is used
-  maven {
-    url "http://m2repo.spockframework.org/snapshots"
-  }
+  // Spock development snapshots are available from Spock's Maven repo
+  maven { url "http://m2repo.spockframework.org/snapshots" }
 }
 
 dependencies {
   // mandatory dependencies for using Spock
-  groovy("org.codehaus.groovy:groovy-all:1.8.6")
+  groovy "org.codehaus.groovy:groovy-all:1.8.6"
   testCompile "org.spockframework:spock-core:0.6-groovy-1.8-rc-1"
 
   // optional dependencies for using Spock
   testCompile "org.hamcrest:hamcrest-core:1.2" // only necessary if Hamcrest matchers are used
-  testRuntime "cglib:cglib-nodep:2.2"     // enables mocking of classes (in addition to interfaces)
-  testRuntime "org.objenesis:objenesis:1.2" // enables mocking of classes without default constructor (together with CGLIB)
+  testRuntime "cglib:cglib-nodep:2.2"          // allows mocking of classes (in addition to interfaces)
+  testRuntime "org.objenesis:objenesis:1.2"    // allows mocking of classes without default constructor (together with CGLIB)
 
-  // dependencies used by examples in this project (not required for using Spock)
+  // dependencies used by examples in this project
   testRuntime "com.h2database:h2:1.3.164"
 }
 
-// copies all Jars used in this project into build/output/lib (not required for using Spock)
+// the remaining configuration is specific to this project, and is not required for using Spock
+
+apply from: "gradle/ide.gradle"
+
 task collectJars(type: Copy) {
     into "$buildDir/output/lib"
     from configurations.testRuntime
 }
 
-// creates bootstrap files (gradlew etc.) for Gradle build (not required for using Spock)
 task wrapper(type: Wrapper) {
   gradleVersion = "1.0-milestone-8a"
 }
 
-
-
-
diff --git a/gradle/ide.gradle b/gradle/ide.gradle
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..32069d0
--- /dev/null
+++ b/gradle/ide.gradle
@@ -0,0 +1,19 @@
+apply plugin: "idea"
+apply plugin: "eclipse"
+
+def gitIgnoreDirs = files(file(".gitignore").readLines().findAll { !it.trim().startsWith("#") && it.trim().endsWith("/") })
+
+idea {
+  project {
+    jdkName "1.6"
+    configure(modules) {
+      excludeDirs = gitIgnoreDirs as Set
+    }
+    ipr {
+      withXml { provider ->
+        def node = provider.asNode()
+        node.component.find { it.'@name' == 'VcsDirectoryMappings' }?.mapping[0].'@vcs' = 'Git'
+      }
+    }
+  }
+}
\ No newline at end of file