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What is a Closure?
A Groovy closure is like a "code block" or a method pointer. It is a piece of code that is defined and then executed at a later point.
Simple Example
Note that in the above example, "hello!" is printed when the closure is called, not when it is defined.
Closures may be "bound" to variables within the scope where they are defined:
Parameters
Closure parameters are listed before the ->, like so:
Implicit variables
Within a closure, a number of variables are defined that have special meaning:
It
If you have a closure that takes a single argument, you may omit the parameter definition of the closure, like so:
this, owner, and delegate
this : as in Java, this refers to the enclosing class where a Closure is defined
owner : the enclosing object (this or a surrounding closure
delegate : by default the same as owner, but changeable for example in a builder or ExpandoMetaClass
Example:
Practical Uses for Closures
Groovy extends java.lang.Object with a number of methods that accept closures as arguments. See GDK Extensions to Object for practical uses for closures.