Groovy Recipes: Greasing the Wheels of Java (Pragmatic Programmers) (Paperback)

~ (Author), Daniel H Steinberg (Editor)

Editorial Reviews

Product Description

Each recipe in "Groovy Recipes" begins with a concise code example for a quick start, followed by in-depth explanation in plain English. These recipes will get you to-to-speed in a Groovy environment quickly.

You'll see how to speed up nearly every aspect of the development process using Groovy. Groovy makes mundane file management tasks like copying and renaming files trivial. Reading and writing XML has never been easier with XmlParsers and XmlBuilders. Breathe new life into Arrays, Maps, and Lists with a number of convenience methods. But Groovy does more than just ease traditional Java development: it brings modern programming features to the Java platform like closures, duck-typing, and metaprogramming.

As an added bonus, this book also covers Grails. You'll be amazed at how quickly you can have a first-class web application up and running from ground zero. Grails includes everything you need in a single zip file⎯a web server (Jetty), a database (HSQLDB), Spring, Hibernate, even a Groovy version of Ant called GANT. We cover everything from getting a basic website in place to advanced features that take you beyond HTML into the world of Web Services: REST, JSON, Atom, Podcasting, and much much more.

About the Author

Daniel is the editor for the new series of Mac Developer titles for the Pragmatic Programmers. He writes feature articles for Apple's ADC web site and is a regular contributor to Mac Devcenter. He has presented at Apple's Worldwide Developer Conference, MacWorld, MacHack and other Mac developer conferences. Daniel has produced podcasts for Apple featuring the work of developers and scientists working on the platform. He has coauthored books on Apple's Bonjour technology as well as on Java Programming and using Extreme Programming in Software Engineering classes.

Scott M. Davis, Ph.D., is an internist and addiction medicine specialist. A graduate of Boston University School of Medicine, Dr. Davis has served as the only full-time Addiction Medicine Physician in the world renowned Betty Ford Center in Rancho Mirage. Dr. Davis is widely regarded as a leading expert in the field of addiction medicine, garnering requests from numerous professional organizations including the California Board of Registered Nursing, American Society for Addiction Medicine (ASAM), and the U.S. Government's Center for Substance Abuse Treatment (CSAT). At the Betty Ford Center, he developed a protocol for opiate detoxification, which has become recognized as the national model of treatment for opiate addiction. He has been published in "The Journal of Addictive Diseases", "The American Journal of Cardiology, " and "Men's Health" magazines.

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Product Details Paperback: 249 pages Publisher: Pragmatic Bookshelf (January 11, 2008) Language: English ISBN-10: 0978739299 ISBN-13: 978-0978739294 Product Dimensions: 8.8 x 7.4 x 0.8 inches Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies) Average Customer Review: 4.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (18 customer reviews) Amazon.com Sales Rank: #179,133 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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	67% buy the item featured on this page: Groovy Recipes: Greasing the Wheels of Java (Pragmatic Programmers) 4.9 out of 5 stars (18) $23.07
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Customer Reviews

18 Reviews 5 star:  (17) 4 star:    (0) 3 star:  (1) 2 star:    (0) 1 star:    (0)           Average Customer Review 4.9 out of 5 stars (18 customer reviews)		Share your thoughts with other customers:
Most Helpful Customer Reviews 10 of 10 people found the following review helpful: 5.0 out of 5 stars outstanding and indispensable, February 27, 2008 By  Michael R. Lauer "smlauer" (Marietta, GA USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)    I absolutely love this book. I have no idea how it would read for a newbie, but as a developer well-versed in Java and very familiar with Groovy, this is an incredibly empowering book. I own and have studied, and liked, 4 other Groovy books, but since I am not using it full-time yet, I tend to forget just the stuff I would like to have at my fingertips just when I need it. Reading the other books is kind of like looking at a new car in the showroom: you see the features, but not much more. This book is like taking a test drive on a race course: you immediately experience the power of using it like it should be used. The subtitle for this book could be: How to do incredibly useful things *immediately* with Groovy. As the author says in chapter 6, he's not a sys admin, but Groovy makes it almost enjoyable to do all the sys tasks a developer has to handle all the time. I cannot recommend this book highly enough. Will it teach you Groovy from the beginning, will it teach you the internals? I don't know, all I do know is that each page tells you how to do something you need to do, how to do it quickly and easily, and it tells you in a way that clarifies a lot of what I have read in other books. This is one of the most useful books I have ever read since K&R. 4 of 4 people found the following review helpful: 5.0 out of 5 stars The K&R of the Groovy World, April 29, 2008 By  Neal Ford (Atlanta, GA USA) - See all my reviews (Disclaimer: I know Scott Davis, but don't hold that against him) Groovy Recipes does what the title says: gives you recipes for how to get stuff done in Groovy. But that's only part of the value of this book. It also teaches how to become an idiomatic Groovy developer. And that's incredibly important. The classic book on C, the K&R book The C Programming Language, did 2 things for C. First and foremost, it taught developers about the c programming language. But the second more subtle thing it did was to teach developers how to be idiomatic C programmers. I can remember reading the book and marveling at the conciseness of the code, which had as much to do with the way the language was used as the language itself. Anytime you learn a new language, you have 2 battles: first, learn the syntax (which is the easiest part -- it's just details of how familiar concepts are expressed in the new syntax). The second battle is the more important one: how to become an idiomatic programmer in that language. Developers new to a language tend to write new code just like code from their former language, using new syntax. Only when they've had time to steep in the better, more elegant ways of expressing yourself in a new language do they truly become proficient. That's what Groovy Recipes does for Groovy developers. It shows not just the syntax, but how to idiomatically use that syntax to become proficient with Groovy. Groovy is a much more powerful language than Java. While you can take a Java source file and rename it with a groovy extension and have it still work, you're writing Groovy code like a Java developer. After you've seen and used Groovy for a while, you start writing code like a Groovy developer. The Groovy Recipes book is two things: recipes for using Groovy to solve problems. But, more importantly, it teaches idiomatic Groovy programming, which is the long-term benefit of the book. It is an excellent book, well written and highly informative. 4 of 4 people found the following review helpful: 5.0 out of 5 stars Great reference book, April 28, 2008 By  E. Wuehler (Portland, OR) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)    For me, the best part of the whole book was Chapter 3: "New to Groovy". The "New to Groovy" chapter essential lists out all the Groovy answers to "why Java can be painful and how Groovy soothes". I liked the very short "here's how you do X in Groovy" format - and any Java developer immediately can see the benefits to adding Groovy to their development arsenal. However, the part of the book that helped (more accurately, is helping) me get Groovy integrated into my projects at work is the information about "Java and Groovy Integration". The projects build on existing internal and external Java APIs; so the information here was very helpful in proving Groovy will not interfere with the current investment in Java. This is definately put together as a reference book; flipping through the chapters and reading what looks interesting hasn't disappointed me yet.		Ad feedback   Most Recent Customer Reviews 5.0 out of 5 stars An Indispensible Go-To Book I have many dozens of software development books. Most are good for a one-time read to wrap my mind around a subject, but once read are on their way to degrading into dust like... Read more Published 2 months ago by Jack Frosch 5.0 out of 5 stars No nonsense explanations, good clear layout Needed to learn Groovy basics very quickly, particularly XML processing. Groovy is the scripting language within the Web Services testing product SoapUI that I'm using. Read more Published 3 months ago by Evergrey 5.0 out of 5 stars Get ready to put the pedal to the medal When I first heard about Groovy, I was very skeptical... That is until I was given this book by a colleague. This book is jam packed with awesome time saving examples! Read more Published 4 months ago by Juan Vazquez 5.0 out of 5 stars Great book for getting into Groovy Groovy Recipes is an excellent introductory book into Groovy programming. The first few chapters give clear instructions for learning how to use Groovy. Read more Published 17 months ago by Paul M. Wiedel 3.0 out of 5 stars Some nice Recipes It is a nice little book to have by your computer, if you are working with Groovy. I give this book 3 star review because this could have done without first 5 chapters. Read more Published 18 months ago by Arif &Ed : Books,Music And Java 5.0 out of 5 stars A great resource, but misleading title. I got this book after hearing the author speak at JavaOne. His talk covers the content of the first chapter along with a few other items, but I didn't mind. Read more Published 18 months ago by Michael Ernest 5.0 out of 5 stars Groovy Baby Very Groovy!! 'Groovy Recipes: Greasing the Wheels of Java' is a typical Pragmatic release in that it is written well, free of bells and whistles, and jam full of relevant and useful... Read more Published 18 months ago by Daniel McKinnon 5.0 out of 5 stars Want to pick up Groovy quick? Get this. So you're in a hurry to pick up Groovy, and you're not a big fan of books that while informative, fill you with more language theory than useful knowledge. Read more Published 18 months ago by Adam T. Bartlett 5.0 out of 5 stars A top pick for any Java library. Computer libraries catering to busy Java professionals will find GROOVY RECIPES a winner, offering quick, at-a-glance solutions to everyday, common Java issues. Read more Published 18 months ago by Midwest Book Review 5.0 out of 5 stars Incredible Groovy Reference For those of you who haven't heard of Groovy, Groovy is a scripting language that is built on top of Java. Read more Published 19 months ago by Daniel Sline Search Customer Reviews Only search this product's reviews

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Product Details

• Paperback: 249 pages
• Publisher: Pragmatic Bookshelf (January 11, 2008)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0978739299
• ISBN-13: 978-0978739294
• Product Dimensions: 8.8 x 7.4 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (18 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #179,133 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars outstanding and indispensable, February 27, 2008

By	Michael R. Lauer "smlauer" (Marietta, GA USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

I absolutely love this book. I have no idea how it would read for a newbie, but as a developer well-versed in Java and very familiar with Groovy, this is an incredibly empowering book.

I own and have studied, and liked, 4 other Groovy books, but since I am not using it full-time yet, I tend to forget just the stuff I would like to have at my fingertips just when I need it. Reading the other books is kind of like looking at a new car in the showroom: you see the features, but not much more. This book is like taking a test drive on a race course: you immediately experience the power of using it like it should be used.

The subtitle for this book could be: How to do incredibly useful things *immediately* with Groovy. As the author says in chapter 6, he's not a sys admin, but Groovy makes it almost enjoyable to do all the sys tasks a developer has to handle all the time.

I cannot recommend this book highly enough. Will it teach you Groovy from the beginning, will it teach you the internals? I don't know, all I do know is that each page tells you how to do something you need to do, how to do it quickly and easily, and it tells you in a way that clarifies a lot of what I have read in other books.

This is one of the most useful books I have ever read since K&R.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The K&R of the Groovy World, April 29, 2008

By	Neal Ford (Atlanta, GA USA) - See all my reviews

(Disclaimer: I know Scott Davis, but don't hold that against him)
Groovy Recipes does what the title says: gives you recipes for how to get stuff done in Groovy. But that's only part of the value of this book. It also teaches how to become an idiomatic Groovy developer. And that's incredibly important. The classic book on C, the K&R book The C Programming Language, did 2 things for C. First and foremost, it taught developers about the c programming language. But the second more subtle thing it did was to teach developers how to be idiomatic C programmers. I can remember reading the book and marveling at the conciseness of the code, which had as much to do with the way the language was used as the language itself.
Anytime you learn a new language, you have 2 battles: first, learn the syntax (which is the easiest part -- it's just details of how familiar concepts are expressed in the new syntax). The second battle is the more important one: how to become an idiomatic programmer in that language. Developers new to a language tend to write new code just like code from their former language, using new syntax. Only when they've had time to steep in the better, more elegant ways of expressing yourself in a new language do they truly become proficient. That's what Groovy Recipes does for Groovy developers. It shows not just the syntax, but how to idiomatically use that syntax to become proficient with Groovy. Groovy is a much more powerful language than Java. While you can take a Java source file and rename it with a groovy extension and have it still work, you're writing Groovy code like a Java developer. After you've seen and used Groovy for a while, you start writing code like a Groovy developer. The Groovy Recipes book is two things: recipes for using Groovy to solve problems. But, more importantly, it teaches idiomatic Groovy programming, which is the long-term benefit of the book. It is an excellent book, well written and highly informative.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Great reference book, April 28, 2008

By	E. Wuehler (Portland, OR) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

For me, the best part of the whole book was Chapter 3: "New to Groovy". The "New to Groovy" chapter essential lists out all the Groovy answers to "why Java can be painful and how Groovy soothes". I liked the very short "here's how you do X in Groovy" format - and any Java developer immediately can see the benefits to adding Groovy to their development arsenal.

However, the part of the book that helped (more accurately, is helping) me get Groovy integrated into my projects at work is the information about "Java and Groovy Integration". The projects build on existing internal and external Java APIs; so the information here was very helpful in proving Groovy will not interfere with the current investment in Java.

This is definately put together as a reference book; flipping through the chapters and reading what looks interesting hasn't disappointed me yet.