Groovy in Action

Groovy, the brand-new language for the Java platform, brings to Java many of the features that have made Ruby popular. Groovy in Action is a comprehensive guide to Groovy programming, introducing Java developers to the new dynamic features that Groovy provides. To bring you Groovy in Action, Manning again went to the source by working with a team of expert authors including both members and the Manager of the Groovy Project team. The result is the true definitive guide to the new Groovy language.

Groovy in Action introduces Groovy by example, presenting lots of reusable code while explaining the underlying concepts. Java developers new to Groovy find a smooth transition into the dynamic programming world. Groovy experts gain a solid reference that challenges them to explore Groovy deeply and creatively.

Because Groovy is so new, most readers will be learning it from scratch. Groovy in Action quickly moves through the Groovy basics, including:

Simple and collective Groovy data types Working with Closures and Groovy Control Structures Dynamic Object Orientation, Groovy style

Readers are presented with rich and detailed examples illustrating Groovy's enhancements to Java, including

How to Work with Builders and the GDK Database programming with Groovy

Groovy in Action then demonstrates how to Integrate Groovy with XML, and provides,

Tips and Tricks Unit Testing and Build Support Groovy on Windows

An additional bonus is a chapter dedicated to Grails, the Groovy Web Application Framework.

Early PDF chapters of Groovy in Action are available from the Manning Early Access Program (MEAP) at http://www.manning.com/koenig. As part of this program, readers can also discuss the early manuscript with the author and help shape the manuscript as it's being developed by joining the Author Forum.

Your successand sanityare closer at hand when you work at a higher level of abstraction, allowing your attention to be on the business problem rather than the details of the programming platform. Domain Specific Languages — “little languages” implemented on top of conventional programming languages — give you a way to do this because they model the domain of your business problem.

DSLs in Action introduces the concepts and definitions a developer needs to build high-quality domain specific languages. It provides a solid foundation to the usage as well as implementation aspects of a DSL, focusing on the necessity of applications speaking the language of the domain. After reading this book, a programmer will be able to design APIs that make better domain models. For experienced developers, the book addresses the intricacies of domain language design without the pain of writing parsers by hand.

The book discusses DSL usage and implementations in the real world based on a suite of JVM languages like Java, Ruby, Scala, and Groovy. It contains code snippets that implement real world DSL designs and discusses the pros and cons of each implementation.

Whats Inside

Tested, real-world examples

How to find the right level of abstraction

Using language features to build internal DSLs

Designing parser/combinator-based little languages

DSLs in Action introduces the concepts and definitions a developer needs to build high-quality domain specific languages. It provides a solid foundation to the usage as well as implementation aspects of a DSL, focusing on the necessity of applications speaking the language of the domain. After reading this book, a programmer will be able to design APIs that make better domain models. For experienced developers, the book addresses the intricacies of domain language design without the pain of writing parsers by hand.

The gap in understanding between the development team and the business domain specialists can lead to errors during user acceptance tests. This book teaches developers to build DSLs that bridge this gap by offering API development techniques that closely model the domain vocabulary. Even non-programmer domain experts can benefit from this book by learning how DSLs can make them a more integral part of the team during the program development phase.

The book discusses DSL usage and implementations in the real world based on a suite of JVM languages like Java, Ruby, Scala, and Groovy. It contains code snippets that implement real world DSL designs and discusses the pros and cons of each implementation.

Debasish Ghosh, Chief Technology Evangelist at Anshinsoft, is passionate about programming languages and cooperative polyglotism. He has developed systems using multiple JVM languages and has designed DSLs using Java, Ruby, and Scala. Debasish is a senior member of the ACM and an active blogger on programming techniques and languages.