Book excerpt: Summary Groovy in Action, Second Edition is a thoroughly revised, comprehensive guide to Groovy programming. It introduces Java developers to the dynamic features that Groovy provides, and shows how to apply Groovy to a range of tasks including building new apps, integration with existing code, and DSL development. Covers Groovy 2.4. Purchase of the print book includes a free eBook in PDF, Kindle, and ePub formats from Manning Publications. About the Technology In the last ten years, Groovy has become an integral part of a Java developer's toolbox. Its comfortable, common-sense design, seamless integration with Java, and rich ecosystem that includes the Grails web framework, the Gradle build system, and Spock testing platform have created a large Groovy community About the Book Groovy in Action, Second Edition is the undisputed definitive reference on the Groovy language. Written by core members of the Groovy language team, this book presents Groovy like no other can—from the inside out. With relevant examples, careful explanations of Groovy's key concepts and features, and insightful coverage of how to use Groovy in-production tasks, including building new applications, integration with existing code, and DSL development, this is the only book you'll need. Updated for Groovy 2.4. Some experience with Java or another programming language is helpful. No Groovy experience is assumed. What's Inside Comprehensive coverage of Groovy 2.4 including language features, libraries, and AST transformations Dynamic, static, and extensible typing Concurrency: actors, data parallelism, and dataflow Applying Groovy: Java integration, XML, SQL, testing, and domain-specific language support Hundreds of reusable examples About the Authors Authors Dierk König, Paul King, Guillaume Laforge, Hamlet D'Arcy, Cédric Champeau, Erik Pragt, and Jon Skeet are intimately involved in the creation and ongoing development of the Groovy language and its ecosystem. Table of Contents PART 1 THE GROOVY LANGUAGE Your way to Groovy Overture: Groovy basics Simple Groovy datatypes Collective Groovy datatypes Working with closures Groovy control structures Object orientation, Groovy style Dynamic programming with Groovy Compile-time metaprogramming and AST transformations Groovy as a static language PART 2 AROUND THE GROOVY LIBRARY Working with builders Working with the GDK Database programming with Groovy Working with XML and JSON Interacting with Web Services Integrating Groovy PART 3 APPLIED GROOVY Unit testing with Groovy Concurrent Groovy with GPars Domain-specific languages The Groovy ecosystem