Great Primer (if a bit dated) on a Great Language
While getting a little long in the tooth (GINA was released pre-Groovy 1.0, Groovy is now above 1.5), the material presented in the book is still very relevant and helpful. The biggest issue is that some of the newer (and cooler!) features, such as ExpandoMetaClass, of the language are not covered.
That being said, this is still a great introduction to the a language that will likely become an important player in Java shops as developers migrate existing designs to take advantage of the power the dynamic programming provides. The authors do a great job of explaining the concepts and syntax of the language, making it easy to quickly begin writing code of your own.
While books such as Groovy Recipes: Greasing the Wheels of Java are now available that cover the newest features in Groovy, a perusal of GINA can help to flatten the learning curve.
Fabulous book, except for the last chapter...
This book is fantastic. Very well done, easy read. It was the first tech book that I read cover-to-cover -without getting bored- in a long time. The author does a good job of explaining how Groovy works under the covers and does a great job of detailing how to make effective use of it.
The language itself is also impressive and I hope Groovy gets the attention it deserves. I hope all Java developers read this to see what they're missing in Java-land. :-)
Hindsight is 20/20, I'm sure the authors are sorry they included the last chapter on Grails as they did. But I don't fault them, as I'm sure the publisher was not uninvolved in that decision... ;-)
I'm giving it 5 stars anyway. Good work!
Well written, light to read
Learn a new language every year - as someone once said.
I happened across Groovy a couple of months ago and was looking for some printed resource - navigating a website just isn't the same as holding a book in ones hands.
And, yes, this is a book well written and easy to read, providing all you need to gain a good understanding of the Groovy language and libraries. If you are looking for a good way to get aquainted with an excellent complement to the Java platform, go and get this book.
Sure to win some converts
This is just a fun book to read! It gives you a great perspective on what the Groovy language is all about while at the same time giving you all the knowledge you need to get started scripting with Groovy. This book is sure to play a part in the future landscape of agile programming languages because it is on par with Ruby's pickaxe book. Programming Ruby: The Pragmatic Programmers' Guide, Second Edition It is sure to help jumpstart the Groovy language into wider acceptance.
This book also has a whole chapter devoted to Grails which the other main Groovy book Groovy Programming: An Introduction for Java Developers doesn't seem to have and that is why I bought it.
You can't live without Groovy. You just can't.
I am going to make this short, because I want to get ONE message across to you, loud and clear. If you are working with Java, you MUST take a look at Groovy.
I cannot overemphasize the coming importance of Groovy on the Java platform, not just in web development, but everywhere. Just try it already. You'll "get it." Just trust me and do it!
Groovy in Action is a first rate introduction and reference, and you really do need a book for this language. I don't recommend trying to go it alone with online reference material, though there is plenty there to give you a taste of why Groovy is about to become your new favorite language.
Read the other reviews. I'm not going to repeat a bunch of stuff here. But whatever you do, TRY GROOVY. You will quickly come to wonder how you ever got along without it.
