APRESS.COM : The Definitive Guide to Grails: Agile Java Web Development using this Groovy-based Framework, Second Edition : 9781590599952

By Graeme Rocher , Scott Davis
ISBN13: 978-1-59059-995-2
ISBN10: 1-59059-995-0
600 pp.
Not Yet Published
Price: $44.99

The Definitive Guide to Grails: Agile Java Web Development using this Groovy-based Framework, Second Edition

Learn to use Grails, the Rails–like environment that uses Groovy and integrates seamlessly with Java, with Grails lead and founder Graeme Rocher. Up to date and authoritative, The Definitive Guide to Grails covers all the core features, services, and extensions via plug–ins and will benefit anyone looking for a more agile approach to web development with a dynamic scripting language such as Groovy.

The rise of Ruby on Rails has signified a huge shift in how we build web applications today; it is a fantastic framework with a growing community. There is, however, space for another such framework that integrates seamlessly with Java. Thousands of companies have invested in Java, and these same companies are losing out on the benefits of a Rails–like framework. Enter Grails.

Grails is not just a Rails clone; it aims to provide a Rails–like environment and idioms that are more familiar to Java developers, making the adjustment in mentality to a dynamic framework less of a jump. The concepts within Grails such as interceptors, tag libs, and Groovy Server Pages (GSP) make those in the Java community feel right at home.

Grails’ foundation on solid open source technologies such as Spring, Hibernate, and SiteMesh gives it even more potential in the Java space: Spring provides powerful inversion of control and MVC, Hibernate brings a stable and mature object relational mapping technology with the ability to integrate with legacy systems, and SiteMesh handles flexible layout control and page decoration. Grails complements these with additional features that take advantage of the coding–by–convention paradigm such as dynamic tag libraries, Grails Object Relational Mapping, Groovy Server Pages, and scaffolding.

What you’ll learn

See how the Web is changing, and the role the Groovy language and its Grails framework plays.
Get to know the Grails Project and its domains, services, filters, controllers, views, testing, and plug–ins.
Experience the availability of plug–ins for Rich Client and Ajax, Web services, performance/utilities, scheduling, security, functionality, and even persistence.
See how Grails works with other frameworks like Spring, Wicket, Hibernate, and more.
Create custom plug–ins in Grails.

Who is this book for?

This book is for everyone who is looking for a more agile approach to web development with a dynamic scripting language such as Groovy. This includes a large number of Java developers who have been enticed by the productivity gains seen with frameworks such as Ruby on Rails, JRuby on Rails, etc. The Web and its environment is perfect fit for easily adaptable and concise languages such as Groovy and Ruby, and there is huge interest from the developer community in general to embrace these languages.

Related Titles

Author Information

Graeme Rocher

Graeme Rocher is a software architect and Chief Technology Officer at SkillsMatter. He started his career in the e-learning sector as part of a team developing scalable enterprise learning management systems based on J2EE technology. He later branched into the digital TV arena where he was faced with increasingly complex requirements that required an agile approach as the ever-changing and young iDTV platforms evolved. This is where Graeme was first exposed to Groovy and he began combining Groovy with Cocoon to deliver dynamic multi-channel content management systems targeted at digital TV platforms.

Benefiting from this taster of what Groovy had to offer, Graeme utilized his skills in his next role at a company called KnowledgePool to produce a rapid e-learning development toolkit, called Originate, that incorporated Groovy as the glue language to bring together a diverse range of technologies required to make the product work (from VB and Microsoft Word to XSLT, the JavaScriptTM language, and XSL-FO). Soon 80% of all e-Learnig work produced by KnowledgePool was using the Groovy-based technology to deliver bespoke e-learning projects.

Seeing an increasing trend for web delivery of services and the complexity this brought, Graeme embarked on another project to simplify this and founded Grails, a framework with the essence of Ruby on Rails, but targeted at tight Java integration. Graeme is the current project lead of Grails and is a member of the Groovy JSR-241 executive committee.

In his current role as CTO at SkillsMatter, a company specializing in Open Source training, Graeme is in charge of the companies courseware development strategy and general technical direction. As part of this role he actively works with a wide range of professionals from the Open Source community and speaks at industry conferences whenever possible on subjects related to Groovy, Grails and dynamic languages in Java.

Scott Davis

A biography for this author is not available.