By Pragmatic Bookshelf - Programming Groovy: Dynamic Productivity for the Java Developer

by Venkat Subramaniam

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).

Genres: Programming, Software, Technology, Web, Computers, Technical

Unknown Binding

First published April 8, 2008

About the author

Dr. 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 frequent 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).

Reviews

[Christopher Patti · Rating 4 out of 5]

Mr. Subramaniam's grasp of the English language seems substantially more complete than many of his fellow countrymen and doesn't get in the way (Which is a true accomplishment for a book by a non native English speaker). What really shines however is his enthusiasm and excitement around dynamic programming languages and Groovy in particular, which is priceless.

While there are occasionally turns of phrase which read awkwardly, none of them that I've found thus far obscure meaning.

This is definitely a worthy choice if you're looking to get your head around the Groovy platform.

[Linda · Rating 3 out of 5]

Groovy is an interesting language and this book makes a good introduction to it. I borrowed it from a coworker and I'm glad I did.

While there are some things about groovy that make me cringe there are some other very interesting concepts in it. Venkat does an excellent job of describing what's going on and has clear, small examples that demonstrate the concepts.

Recommended for all java programmers.

[Alain · Rating 4 out of 5]

A very good foray into an amazing language. Enough material to dig deeper on my own.

[Irwan · Rating 4 out of 5]

A good starting book on Groovy for people familiar with Java programming language. Used it heavily on creating a presentation at work, and will still be using for the current project.

[Alex Fürstenau · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent read to get a head start when using groovy.

[Balhau · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is the second book I've read from Venkat Subramaniam and I should say that I'm enjoying a lot. Venkat is, from what I read, a very knowledgeable guy who's have a very specific talent to teach abstract and advanced concepts. The first book I read from Venkat was the "Practices of an Agile Developer", like this first one the approx of Venkat is equally pragmatic and full of wise advices. I trully recomend this book for someone that is new to the groovy language. It should, however, be noticed that the approx here presented is not target for the young and not experience developper. The main purpose is the groovy language, but the main aim of the language is to solve some advanced problems which consist in equally advanced topics of software development.

[John · Rating 4 out of 5]

very decent read, but really hard to use as a reference. (i got groovy recipes envy so i bought that one recently and will read it soon.)

the index sucks.

looking forward to a second edition?! its quite a stretch to compare this relatively thinnish tome to "programming perl" or "programming ruby".

[Neetika · Rating 5 out of 5]

As I started reading this book and couldn't put it down, I am thoroughly impressed and do not regret my decision.
Metaprogramming is covered in a good great depth. This is kind of practical book,explained thoroughly with nice working examples.It actually helped me in understanding Groovy from scratch to depth and becoming productive.I would strongly recommend it to anyone who is interested in Groovy.

[Marcin Gryszko · Rating 5 out of 5]

Altough a bit outdated, it's still the best book to learn Groovy. The metaprogramming chapters are concise but loaded with a lot of knowledge.

I prefer this book over Groovy in Action, which is IMO too wordy.

[Guy McArthur · Rating 4 out of 5]

Takes you deep into Groovy, quickly going through the fundamentals to explore dynamic and meta programming, builders and domain specific languages. It works well as an augment to the online docs to explain core and advanced features as one progresses into those topics.

[Tomasz · Rating 4 out of 5]

Really good introduction to Groovy language. Well written (Venkat, you know :) ) and full of useful information. I wasn't tired or bored while reading any chapter (like it was in "Scala in Action").
If you want to learn Groovy, this book is a good choice.

[Sumit · Rating 3 out of 5]

A good guide for Java programmers, who would like a comparative analysis of how to do things in Groovy as compared to Java. However, if you are new to programming and are planning to start up with Groovy, this is not a book for you.

[Arun · Rating 2 out of 5]

Started well.. but got too heavy after the basics were covered. Going to give Groovy in Action a try.

[Paweł · Rating 3 out of 5]

Sometimes some ideas repeat, looks like author is paid by line of text ;)