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Learning Groovy

A guide to learning the popular JVM programming language, Groovy 2.x, and its ecosystem

Adam L. Davis

Now at Apress. An ebook to help programmers learn Groovy, a flexible open-source language built for the JVM (Java Virtual Machine), and the Groovy ecosystem. This book covers Groovy basics, Gradle, Grails, Spock, Groovy design patterns, advanced Groovy programming, Ratpack, and more. Now at Apress

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About

About

About the Book

Who is this book for?

Although this book is somewhat intended for those with a Java background, anyone with basic programming skills could benefit from it. This book is a data-filled, yet easy-to-digest tour of the Groovy language and ecosystem. Now at Apress

This book covers:

  • Groovy basics, including the GDK
  • Advanced Groovy, such as writing Groovy DSLs
  • Functional programming in Groovy
  • GPars, the built-in concurrency library
  • Gradle, the build system
  • Grails, the web application framework
  • Spock, the testing framework
  • Ratpack, the reactive web library

Groovy is a flexible open-source language built for the JVM (Java Virtual Machine) with a Java-like syntax. It can be used dynamically or statically-typed, your choice. It supports functional programming constructs, including first-class functions, currying, and more. It has multiple-inheritance, type inference, and meta-programming. 

Groovy is very similar in syntax to Java so it is generally easy for Java developers to learn (Java code is generally valid Groovy code).  However, Groovy has many additional features and relaxed syntax rules: closures, dynamic typing, meta-programming (via metaClass), semicolons are optional, regex-support, operator overloading, GStrings, and more. Groovy is interpreted at runtime, but in Groovy 2.0 the ability to compile to byte-code and enforce type-checking were added to the language.

Praise for previous works:

If you're just getting to Java 8, I definitely recommend @adamldavis' book -- very concise and helpful. -Fred Jonsson

"bought both of your books (Modern Java & Modern Programming) and let me tell you, what a great value and extremely good content" - Rozzot

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Computer ScienceComputers and ProgrammingJavaFunctional Programming

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License

Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License

Author

About the Author

Adam L. Davis

Adam Davis makes software. He's spent many years developing in Java (since Java 1.2) and has enjoyed using Spring, Hibernate, Grails, and many others. He has used Java, Groovy, JavaScript, AWS, and much more to build applications for over a decade and has worked at both large and small corporations. Adam is a Certified Spring Professional and has a Masters and a Bachelors degree in Computer Science from Georgia Tech.

http://adamldavis.com

Contents

Table of Contents

Getting Groovy

  1. About This Book

Software to Install

  1. Java/Groovy
  2. Others
  3. Code on Github

Groovy 101

  1. What is Groovy?
  2. Compact Syntax
  3. Dynamic Def
  4. List and Map Definitions
  5. Groovy GDK
  6. Everything is an Object
  7. Easy Properties
  8. GString
  9. String
  10. Closures
  11. Return Optional
  12. Closure Exercise
  13. A Better Switch
  14. Meta-programming
  15. Static Type Checking
  16. Elvis Operator
  17. Safe Dereference Operator
  18. A Brief History
  19. Summary

Tools

  1. Console
  2. Compilation
  3. Shell
  4. Documentation

GDK

  1. Collections
  2. IO
  3. Ranges
  4. Utilities

Coming from Java

  1. Default Method Values
  2. Equals, Hashcode, etc.
  3. Regex Pattern Matching
  4. Missing Java Syntax
  5. Semi-colon Optional
  6. Where are Generics?
  7. Groovy Numbers
  8. Boolean-resolution
  9. Map Syntax
  10. Summary
  11. Advanced Groovy

Groovy Design Patterns

  1. Strategy Pattern
  2. Meta-programming
  3. Method Missing
  4. Delegation

DSLs

  1. Delegate
  2. Overriding Operators
  3. Method-missing and Property-missing

Traits

  1. Defining Traits
  2. Using Traits
  3. Summary

Functional Programming

  1. Functions and Closures
  2. Map/Filter/etc.
  3. Immutability
  4. Groovy Fluent GDK
  5. Groovy Curry
  6. Method Handles
  7. Tail Recursion
  8. Summary

Groovy GPars

  1. Parallel Map Reduce
  2. Actors
  3. The Groovy Ecosystem

Groovy Awesomeness

  1. Web and UI Frameworks
  2. Cloud Computing Frameworks
  3. Build Frameworks
  4. Testing Frameworks/Code Analysis
  5. Concurrency
  6. Others

Gradle

  1. Projects and Tasks
  2. Plugins
  3. Configuring a Task
  4. Extra Configuration
  5. Maven Dependencies
  6. Gradle Properties
  7. Multiproject builds
  8. File Operations
  9. Exploring
  10. Summary
  11. Online Documentation

Grails

  1. What is Grails?
  2. Quick Overview of Grails
  3. Plugins
  4. REST in Grails
  5. Short History of Grails
  6. Testing
  7. Cache Plugin
  8. Grails Wrapper
  9. Cloud
  10. Only an Overview
  11. Groovy Mailgun

Spock

  1. Introduction
  2. A Simple Test
  3. Mocking
  4. Lists or Tables of Data
  5. Ranges
  6. Expecting Exceptions
  7. Conclusion

Ratpack

  1. Script
  2. Gradle
  3. Ratpack Layout
  4. Handlers
  5. Rendering
  6. JSON
  7. Bindings
  8. Blocking
  9. Configuration
  10. Testing
  11. Summary
  12. Appendixes

Java/Groovy4

Resources

Causes

Causes Supported

Oxfam America

Oxfam America

Right the Wrong

http://www.oxfamamerica.org
Oxfam America is a global organization working to right the wrongs of poverty, hunger, and injustice. We save lives, develop long-term solutions to poverty, and campaign for social change. As one of 17 members of the international Oxfam confederation, we work with people in more than 90 countries to create lasting solutions.
Oxfam America is a global organization working to right the wrongs of poverty, hunger, and injustice. We save lives, develop long-term solutions to poverty, and campaign for social change. As one of 17 members of the international Oxfam confederation, we work with people in more than 90 countries to create lasting solutions. Our vision: A just world without poverty. Our mission: To create lasting solutions to poverty, hunger, and social injustice.

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