Grails 2.0 and ASP.NET MVC 4 are web application frameworks that implement the model-view-controller pattern. Some key differences include: 1. Grails uses the Groovy programming language which runs on the Java virtual machine, while ASP.NET MVC uses .NET languages like C# that run on Windows. 2. The ASP.NET MVC community is larger due to the popularity of C#, but Grails has lower costs since it can be developed and deployed for free using open source tools. 3. Grails requires less operating system knowledge as it has little relationship with the OS, whereas ASP.NET MVC requires knowledge of Windows updates and patches due to its close

1. Difference between Grails 2.0 and ASP.NET MVC 4
S.No Grails 2.0 ASP.NET MVC 4.0
1 Meaning: Meaning:
Grails is an open source web The ASP.NET MVC Framework is
application framework which a web application framework that
uses the Groovy programming implements the model-view-
language (which is in turn controller (MVC) pattern.
based on the Java platform). It
is intended to be a high- Based on ASP.NET, it allows
productivity framework by software developers to build a Web
following the "coding by application as a composition of
convention" paradigm, three roles: Model, View and
providing a stand-alone Controller.
development environment and A model represents the state of a
hiding much of the particular aspect of the application.
configuration detail from the A controller handles interactions
developer. and updates the model to reflect a
change in state of the application,
and then passes information to the
view. A view accepts necessary
information from the controller and
renders a user interface to display
that.
2 Community Support: Community Support:
No. Grails is built on Groovy Yes. MVC 4 may be built on .NET
which is a dynamic language VB or .NET C#. The usage of C#
that compiles into byte-code seems to be growing versus VB
that runs on the Java virtual according to indeed.com job
machine. Unfortunately, the trends. Therefore, in the
number of Groovy developers comparison with Grails, this
in the world are far comparison is focused on MVC
outnumbered by the number of 4 .NET C#. The C# open source
C, C++, VB, C#, and Java community is very large. It is not
developers. quite the size of Java or C/C++, but
it is global.
3 Cost of Development: Cost of Development:
Yes. Grails is much cheaper to No. The cost of development is
develop and deploy. It is basically free if Visual Studio 2011
conceivable that the cost of Express is considered sufficient
development and deployment (Note: In this case Visual Studio
is free since it can be done Professional is used). The cost of
with open source tools and deployment is likely more than
platforms. zero...it depends on the amount of
data that is required to be stored
and the number of users that would
be connecting.

2. 4 OS knowledge required or OS knowledge required or not ?
not ? No. The .NET framework is
Yes. Since Grails runs in a affected by system updates to the
JVM, there is little to no Windows operating system. While
relationship between the JVM it is possible to separate the .NET
and the operating system. specific updates from the rest of
the operating system updates, that
is a hassle. Also, due to the
success of the .NET framework for
Microsoft over past ten years, it
has become more intertwined with
the operating system. As a result,
it is not always clear where .NET
begins and and the operating
system ends. Therefore, at the
very least, ASP.NET MVC 4
requires Windows operating
system knowledge and research
for each patch deployment...that is
an ongoing cost that is arguably
greater than that of maintaining a
JVM.
References:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grails_%28framework%29
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ASP.NET_MVC_Framework
http://erniepaschall.blogspot.in/2012/04/scrumtime-grails-20-vs-aspnet-mvc-4.html
And, further updates on difference between questions and answers, please visit my
blog @ http://onlydifferencefaqs.blogspot.in/