Groovy Training for Java Developers (5 days)

Groovy Training for Java Developers Overview

Groovy is language that lets you exploit the strengths and flexibility of a dynamic language on the Java Virtual Machine. This course will enable Java developers to gain productivity by leveraging the benefits of Groovy on the powerful Java platform. We assume you have experience developing applications with Java, so that you can focus and learn the differences and improvements that Groovy brings.

Groovy Training for Java Developers Course Goals

• Learn to leverage the strengths of Groovy to create Java applications
• Learn to be a productive programmer
• Learn to write object-oriented code in Groovy
• Learn to write functional code in Groovy
• Learn to reduce code complexity using Groovy builders
• Learn to create flexible and dynamic code using Metaprogramming
• Learn to write and use Domain Specific Language in Groovy
• Learn to ensure quality with the unit testing and mock framework in Groovy

Groovy Training for Java Developers Course Prerequisites

Experience in the following areas is required:

• Understand object-oriented principles
• Create, test, and execute programs in Java
• Use common Java APIs such as Collections

Groovy Training for Java Developers Course Outline

1. Exploring Groovy
   1. What is Groovy?
   2. Why Groovy?
   3. Signal to noise ratio
   4. Groovy in the Java World
   5. Tools and IDEs for Groovy
   6. Ways to use Groovy
2. Java and Groovy
   1. Mixing Java into Groovy
   2. Mixing Groovy into Java
   3. Compilation issues
   4. Performance considerations
3. Unit Testing with Groovy
   1. Fundamentals of Unit Testing
   2. Why Groovy is a better option for unit testing
   3. Baked-in unit testing
   4. Power of Groovy for unit testing
   5. Deciding between Stub vs. Mock
   6. Mocking dependencies with Expando
   7. Mocking deep dependencies with Interceptors
4. Data Types and Typing
   1. Data Types in Groovy
   2. Groovy and Typing
   3. Static vs. Dynamic vs. Optional Typing
   4. Issues with typing
5. Groovy Strings
   1. Strings in Groovy
   2. Expressions and Literals
   3. Multiple lines of String
   4. Working with Strings
   5. Operator overloading
6. Collections
   1. Collections API
   2. Using ArrayList
   3. Using Hashmap
   4. Iterators and convenience methods
7. Closures
   1. Functional Programming and Lambda Expressions
   2. Blocks and Closures
   3. Writing closures
   4. Calling closures
   5. Power and limitations of closures
8. Groovy Developer Kit
   1. What is GDK?
   2. Advantages of using GDK
   3. GDK enhancements
9. Domain Specific Languages
   1. What are DSLs?
   2. Types of DSLs
   3. Creating DSL using Groovy
   4. Groovy in Rules Engines
10. MetaProgramming in Groovy
    1. Power of metaprogramming
    2. Groovy features for metaprogramming
    3. Injecting methods with Categories
    4. Creating dynamic objects with Expando
    5. Method synthesis
    6. AOP in Groovy
11. Markup Builders
    1. What are Builders?
    2. Builders in Groovy
    3. Creating your own Builder
12. Working with XML
    1. Parsing XML
    2. Generating XML
    3. Performance considerations
13. Working with Databases
    1. APIs and Builders for database access
    2. Working with Microsoft Excel
14. Groovy Gotchas
    1. Language idiosyncrasies
    2. Behaviors different from Java
15. Spring and Groovy
    1. Spring 2.0 and dynamic languages
    2. Benefits of using Groovy with Spring
    3. Options for using Groovy with Spring
16. Web Development with Groovy and Grails
    1. What is Grails?
    2. Groovy in Grails
    3. Creating Web Applications in Grails

Groovy Training for Java Developers Course Materials

In addition to a comprehensive set of materials, including course notes and all the programming examples, each student will receive a copy of The Definitive Guide to Grails by Graeme Rocher .

Each student will also receive a one-year subscription to Webucator's online reference library, which contains hundreds of the most current electronic technology books - a $149.95 per student value.

Groovy Training for Java Developers Technical Requirements

1. Sun Java Runtime Environment 1.4.2 or later
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2. Grails 0.6 (or higher)
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3. Groovy
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4. MySQL 5.0
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5. Browser Options
   • Internet Explorer 6.0 or later
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   • Firefox
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   • Safari
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Class Files for Groovy Training for Java Developers

The class files for this course are included on a DVD provided by the instructor.