This document introduces Groovy and Grails. It discusses how Groovy provides a dynamic language for the JVM with features like closures and native collection syntax. It also introduces Grails as a high productivity web framework built on Java technologies like Spring and Hibernate. Examples of companies using Groovy and Grails include Netflix, Sky.com, and LinkedIn.

1. Groovy & Grails
Jean Barmash
CTO, EnergyScoreCards
www.meetup.com/grails

2. Java:
String[] names = new String[] {"Rod", "Carlos", "Chris"}
for (String it : names)
if (it.length() <= 4)
System.out.println(it);
Groovy:
String[] names = [ "Rod", "Carlos", "Chris" ]
for (String it : names)
if (it.length() <= 4)
System.out.println(it);
Idiomatic Groovy:
names = ["Rod", "Carlos", "Chris"]
names.grep { it.size() <= 4 }.each{ println it }

3. Groovy Language
Dynamic Language for the JVM
Native Integration with Java, cross-compilation
Almost-zero learning curve
can rename .java to .groovy
Backed by VMWare / SpringSource
Open Source, Apache License
Unfortunate Name

4. Major Features
Less Ceremony
Closures
Native collection syntax / processing
Many Features for DSL
Abstract Syntax Tree Transformation
E.g. @Immutable, @Singleton
Trivial XML / HTML / JSON Processing
Fun
Did I say easy integration with Java?

5. Grails (www.grails.org)
High Productivity Web Framework
Convention over configuration
Built on solid Java technologies
Spring, Hibernate, Quartz
GORM - Works with Hibernate, JPA, and NoSQL Dbs
Plugins - 699 plugins & growing (including clojure, scala)
IDE Support
2.0 In November
Backed by SpringSource / VMWare
Awesome Community
Unfortunate Name

6. Who Uses Groovy / Grails
Netflix (Internally)
Sky.com
LinkedIn
Conde Naste (Wired)
Example - clickOnero in Latin America
1.5 million users, 80k concurrent users, 8 tomcats,
5 Linux boxes, 1 mysql, 1 terracotta, 1 rabbitmq
EnergyScoreCards :-)

7. Other Groovy Projects
Spock Testing Framework
GEB Functional Testing Framework
GPARS - Concurrency Framework
Gradle - convention over configuration build framework
Griffon - Swing Framework
Some Other projects that offer Groovy support
o Spring, Mule, NanoContainer, ServiceMix, Magnolia
CMS, eXo, neo4j, Jenkins,
o Many more at http://groovy.codehaus.org/Related
+Projects

8. References
Groovy Home Page http://groovy.codehaus.org/
Related Projects http://groovy.codehaus.org/Related+Projects
Blogs - http://groovyblogs.org/
Groovy Magazine - http://www.groovymag.com
Grails - www.grails.org
Grails Plugins - http://grails.org/plugin/category/all
SpringSource - www.springsource.com
Groovy / Grails Support
http://www.springsource.com/support/groovyandgrailssupport
Conferences - Gr8Conf, SpringOne2GX
SpringOne2GX - http://www.springone2gx.com/
Gr8Conf - http://www.gr8conf.org/
NYC Groovy/Grails Meetup - http://www.meetup.com/grails/