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Groovy...

  • is an agile and dynamic language for the Java Virtual Machine
  • builds upon the strengths of Java but has additional power features inspired by languages like Python, Ruby and Smalltalk
  • makes modern programming features available to Java developers with almost-zero learning curve
  • provides the ability to statically type check and statically compile your code for robustness and performance
  • supports Domain-Specific Languages and other compact syntax so your code becomes easy to read and maintain
  • makes writing shell and build scripts easy with its powerful processing primitives, OO abilities and an Ant DSL
  • increases developer productivity by reducing scaffolding code when developing web, GUI, database or console applications
  • simplifies testing by supporting unit testing and mocking out-of-the-box
  • seamlessly integrates with all existing Java classes and libraries
  • compiles straight to Java bytecode so you can use it anywhere you can use Java

Experience Groovy 2.1

Groovy 2.1 is the latest major and stable version of the popular alternative language for the JVM.

To learn more about the novelties, make sure to read the detailed release notes. In a nutshell, Groovy 2.1

  • offers full support for the JDK 7 “invoke dynamic” bytecode instruction and API for improved performance,
  • goes beyond conventional static type checking capabilities with a special annotation to assist with documentation and type safety of Domain-Specific Languages and adds static type checker extensions,
  • provides additional compilation customization options,
  • features a meta-annotation facility for combining annotations elegantly,
  • and provides various other enhancements and minor improvements.


"Groovy is like a super version of Java. It can leverage Java's enterprise capabilities but also has cool productivity features like closures, builders and dynamic typing. If you are a developer, tester or script guru, you have to love Groovy."

 

Samples

A simple hello world script:

def name='World'; println "Hello $name!"

A more sophisticated version using Object Orientation:

class Greet {
  def name
  Greet(who) { name = who[0].toUpperCase() +
                      who[1..-1] }
  def salute() { println "Hello $name!" }
}

g = new Greet('world')  // create object
g.salute()               // output "Hello World!"

Leveraging existing Java libraries:

import static org.apache.commons.lang.WordUtils.*

class Greeter extends Greet {
  Greeter(who) { name = capitalize(who) }
}

new Greeter('world').salute()

On the command line:

groovy -e "println 'Hello ' + args[0]" World

Latest news [more]

Guillaume Laforge posted on Jun 14, 2013
Groovy 2.1.5 bug fix release

Dear all,

I'm pleased to announce the release of Groovy 2.1.5.

Groovy 2.1.5 is a bug fix release of the Groovy 2.1 branch. In particular, it fixes a problem we've encountered with Groovy 2.1.4 where the extension module descriptors were not found in the "all" JAR, which meant that the usual nice GDK methods extensions for XML and other modules were not found by Groovy.

You can download Groovy 2.1.5 in the download area and have a look at the JIRA release notes.

Thanks to all who contributed to this release!

Keep on groovy'ing!