| What about Groovy?[1] From the website: - is an agile and dynamic language for the Java Virtual Machine - builds upon the strengths of Java but has additional power features inspired by languages like Python, Ruby and Smalltalk - makes modern programming features available to Java developers with almost-zero learning curve - provides the ability to statically type check and statically compile your code for robustness and performance - supports Domain-Specific Languages and other compact syntax so your code becomes easy to read and maintain - makes writing shell and build scripts easy with its powerful processing primitives, OO abilities and an Ant DSL - increases developer productivity by reducing scaffolding code when developing web, GUI, database or console applications - simplifies testing by supporting unit testing and mocking out-of-the-box - seamlessly integrates with all existing Java classes and libraries - compiles straight to Java bytecode so you can use it anywhere you can use Java It has also recently entered the top 20 on Tiobe Index and it's the only one amongst other well-known JVM languages ( Scala (#36), JavaFX Script (#41) and Clojure (#76)) [2] [1] http://groovy.codehaus.org/
[2] http://www.tiobe.com/index.php/content/paperinfo/tpci/index.... |
Most of this is marketing talk without any specific examples or comparisons. The project manager for Codehaus Groovy is a non-technical SpringSource employee who frequently makes bold statements about Groovy without giving any evidence.
> - builds upon the strengths of Java but has additional power features inspired by languages like Python, Ruby and Smalltalk
Groovy is really just a clone of Ruby but with Java-like syntax. It's business purpose was solely to be an appendage to Grails, so Grails could take some market-share away from Rails. "Ruby on Rails", "Groovy on Grails", get it?
Grails itself started as a thin wrapper around other software products from various companies (e.g. Spring from SpringSource, Hibernate from JBoss) so Grails dictator Graeme Rocher could use it to muscle in on the training and consultancy markets for those products. He then started a company, G2One Inc, and quickly shopped it around among the various companies whose products he bundled, successfully fooling SpringSource into buying it 12 mths afterwards.
Always look thru the marketing talk to the business purpose of something when deciding whether to adopt. You'll get burnt otherwise.
> It has also recently entered the top 20 on Tiobe Index and it's the only one amongst other well-known JVM languages ( Scala (#36), JavaFX Script (#41) and Clojure (#76)) [2]
6 months ago Groovy wasn't even in their Top 50. I doubt Groovy suddenly became popular in a mere 6 months. Groovy's sudden high ranking says more about how dubious Tiobe's algorithms are than about Groovy's uptake by developers.
In fact, Tiobe have been frequently changing their algorithms over the last 6 months so maybe there's been some interference. 3 years ago (Dec 2010) Groovy Tech Lead Jochen Theodorou volunteered his services to Tiobe to polish their algorithms. Groovy then shot up from below 50 to number 25. In April 2011, however, Groovy dropped from 25 to number 65 in a single month when Tiobe added more search engines. Hope Groovy's not similarly embarrassed again because of the short-sightedness of it's non-technical promoters.