Programming Groovy: Dynamic Productivity for the Java Developer (Pragmatic Programmers)

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When a new language comes out, the first set of books focuses on either the shiny new, golly-gee-wow features of the language or on how to use it to get real work done. But eventually someone comes out with a book that no longer treats the new language like a shiny new thing, but as a serious contender in the language universe. And that's Programming Groovy does (disclaimer: I know Venkat). It doesn't treat Groovy like a novelty act. It also doesn't provide recipes. Instead, it treats Groovy as a real programming language. I'll have to admit, this is the Groovy book for which I've been waiting.
Groovy is friendlier syntax for programming Java (I called it the real JDK in a recent blog posting). Books about the practical aspects of Groovy are very important because, as a language, it resides in a unique place: it's a low impedance way to program the Java platform, and it displaces Java for lots of common tasks. But it is also a powerful language in its own right. Programming Groovy has 4 chapters on meta-programming Groovy, and another long chapter on building domain specific languages. That's meaty stuff. It never condescends or makes excuses for Groovy but treats it like a real language. This book goes in depth into places in Groovy where it's hard to find information online, like how ExpandoMetaclass really works. This is both the most comprehensive and authoritative book on the Groovy language around. This is going to be a classic in the Groovy literature and an exemplar for describing new languages.

I read this book carefully, cover to cover. It is very well written. In the entire book I found one typographical mistake that was a trivial mistake in a footnote. Everything else was perfect.

Not everyone is going to be able to appreciate this book. When I first tried to read it, I ended up putting it aside. But then I read two books about javascript ("JavaScript: The Good Parts" and a book on JQuerey). That introduced me to dynamic languages. Then, I started reading this book again and couldn't put it down, it was so interesting.

Thanks to this book, I am now on the Groovy bandwagon. Groovy seems like the natural next step after java, a statically typed language.

I attended the first Groovy/Grails conference in February of 2008. Even with that background, I truly could not comprehend Groovy until I learned the dynamic capabilities of javascript. For others, maybe learning Ruby first would give the same "shot in the arm" towards learning Groovy that javascript had for me.

I'm a typical java programmer, so my enthusiasm now for Groovy (and Grails and Griffon) is probably typical of the excitement about Groovy that is beginning to build, especially now that SpringSource has acquired G2One.

In summary, I am recommending this specific book because the author is a very good writer who did a very good job of presenting the material clearly and logically in an interesting manner.

Venkat does a fantastic job of explaining what Groovy is, how it evolved, why you would want to use it, and how to integrate it with your Java projects.

He has a fantastic sense of humor, which really shows through in this book. If you ever get the opportunity to see him speak, take it. He's an incredibly intelligent, articulate programmer, and probably the most language-agnostic programmer I've ever met.

One caveat: if you are a Java zealot, this book may send you into little fits. In the first section of the book, he converts standard Java code (groovyc can compile most Java code, so it's actually Groovy code that looks like Java) into Groovy. There are a lot of comments that may make Java zealots throw little fits.

If you're stuck using Java, get this book.

Groovy - it's not the philosophy of the 1960s, it's a programming language, and a good one too. "Programming Groovy: Dynamic Productivity for the Java Developer" is a thorough and educational guide to this programming language, which can bring developers many things they need and want to do in their programs. With tips on how to effectively mix both Java and Groovy, and with plenty of advanced programming techniques, "Programming Groovy: Dynamic Productivity for the Java Developer" is a top pick for community library computer collections and for any Java programmer.

Overall, a very good book on Groovy. Great simple examples to work from. I was very impressed with the chapter on Closures which can be a difficult subject for those coming from primarily a Java background. Wanna learn Groovy? Get this book. [...]

A friend recommended I look into Groovy; having had good experiences with The Pragmatic Programmers series previously, this title found its way to my bookshelf. As anticipated, it is well written and easy to read through. Normally I use tech books more as a reference than a start-to-finish read, but this book has been an exception.

I appreciate the level of detail the author goes into around the Groovy concepts, such as Dynamic Typing or Closures, and how they relate to what a Java developer would be familiar with. Not so much detail to drone academic, but enough to answer the "What/Why/How". I'm not familiar enough with Groovy to comment on how comprehensive it is, but it appears to cover just about everything I was looking for.

Are you interested in Groovy? You don't have time for reading big
books with many unnecessary topics?
Do you need a book, that will give you a great introduction to Groovy
without spending many days on reading?
If YES, then this book is definitely for you!

"Programming Groovy" was my first book about Groovy, it gave me a
great introduction to Groovy language.
I decided to read this book, because it has about 300 pages. So, for
me (I'm a very busy person) it was the best option
to receive knowledge about Groovy.

The book of Venkat Subramaniam is divided into 3 main parts:

* Beginning Groovy
* Using Groovy
* MOPping Groovy

If you just want to have a fast overview on Groovy, then "Beginning
Groovy" will definitely fit your needs, because it
provides general information on Groovy language including: dynamic
typing, data types, closures and working with collections.
There is also dedicated chapter called "Groovy for the Java Eyes" with
some Groovy-Java comparisons and description
of their cooperation.

"Using Groovy" is the part with the most useful topics you might need,
it covers scripts and classes creation,
working with XML, using databases and extended classes from GDK.

In case you want to be a real Groovy hacker, you have to read "MOPping
Groovy", which will introduce you to
advanced Groovy topics like: Meta-Object Protocol, methods injection,
Groovy builders, unit testing and even creating
your own DSL in Groovy!

I'm sure you will be very satisfied after reading "Programming Groovy".

I am still fairly new to Groovy, but I have been experimenting with Groovy for about a year. This book, so far, has really helped me grasp some of the more complex concepts of Groovy and dynamic scripting languages in general. I am big fan of this book and strongly recommend it to anyone who is interested in Groovy and to any Java developer who wants an incredibly extensible tool set in his/her back pocket.

I can't add much more to Neal Ford's great comments but I just want to say that I also am truly enjoying Venkat's book. I have seen him and Neal in several NoFluffJustStuff conferences and this book honors that tradition. He does a great job at introducing language features without any unnecessary stuff.

I started reading his beta copy in PDF from the Pragmatic Bookshelf and being relatively new to Groovy I now feel quite a bit more prepared to tackle problems that are difficult and a bit clunky with Java. I suddenly feel like I have a chance of doing some of that 'cool stuff' that the Python and Ruby dudes are always bragging about.

Thanks Venkat!

With 'Programming Groovy: Dynamic Productivity for the Java Developer', Pragmatic has quickly become THE choice for Groovy and Rails resource books on the market. This book is another fine release in the Groovy set of books (Pragmatic has released a few previously) and I can easily recommend this if you program with Java + Groovy.

**** RECOMMENDED

If you are thinking about using Groovy (and you should be)then this book provides a nice and gentle introduction to the language. I don't think it is a 5 star book though.