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

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Editorial Reviews

Product Description

The strength of Java is no longer in the language itself; it's in the Java Platform (the JVM, JDK, and rich frameworks and libraries). But recently, the industry has turned to dynamic languages for increased productivity and speed to market.

Groovy is one of a new breed of dynamic languages that run on the Java platform. You can use these new languages on the JVM and intermix them with your existing Java code. You can leverage your Java investments while benefiting from advanced features including true Closures, Meta Programming, the ability to create internal DSLs, and a higher level of abstraction.

If you're an experienced Java developer, "Programming Groovy" will help you learn the necessary fundamentals of programming in Groovy. You'll see how to use Groovy to do advanced programming including using Meta Programming, Builders, Unit Testing with Mock objects, processing XML, working with Databases and creating your own Domain-Specific Languages (DSLs).

About the Author

Venkat Subramaniam, founder of Agile Developer, Inc., has trained and mentored thousands of software developers in the US, Canada, Europe, and Asia. Venkat helps his clients effectively apply and succeed with agile practices on their software projects. He is a frequently invited speaker at international software conferences and user groups. He's author of .NET Gotchas (O'Reilly), coauthor of the 2007 Jolt Productivity award-winning book Practices of an Agile Developer (Pragmatic Bookshelf), and author of Programming Groovy (Pragmatic Bookshelf).

Product Details

• Paperback: 310 pages
• Publisher: Pragmatic Bookshelf (April 1, 2008)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1934356093
• ISBN-13: 978-1934356098
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 7.5 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.5 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (14 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #23,885 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

16 of 17 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Groovy is a real language, not Java's scripting clone, April 29, 2008

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

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.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars I read this book cover to cover. It's a great book that I recommend highly, November 30, 2008

By	Robert D. Glover Jr. "robert-g-near-nyc" (Linden, NJ USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

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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.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars If you have to use Java, make it Groovy, May 20, 2008

By	SuperChuck - See all my reviews

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.