File type argument used in `compilerArgs` where String is expected

[johann-beleites-sonarsource]

In the root project's build.gradle, the compileJava task is configured as follows:

    compileJava {
        options.getGeneratedSourceOutputDirectory().set((File) project.generatedSourcesJavaDir)
        options.compilerArgs += [
            "-Xlint:unchecked",
            "-Xlint:deprecation",
            "-s",
            project.generatedSourcesJavaDir
        ]
    }

In the ext block, generatedSourcesJavaDir is assigned a file. However, the compilerArgs in the compileJava task expect a list of Strings.

Is there a particular reason to use a File type in the args list here or could this be changed to get the String path from the file?