Editorial Review:
Web frameworks are playing a major role in the creation of today's most compelling web applications, because they automate many of the tedious tasks, allowing developers to instead focus on providing users with creative and powerful features. Java developers have been particularly fortunate in this area, having been able to take advantage of Grails, an open source framework that supercharges productivity when building Java–driven web sites. Grails is based on Groovy, which is a very popular and growing dynamic scripting language for Java developers and was inspired by Python, Ruby, and Smalltalk. Beginning Groovy and Grails is the first introductory book on the Groovy language and its primary web framework, Grails. This book gets you started with Groovy and Grails and culminates in the example and possible application of some real–world projects. You follow along with the development of each project, implementing and running each application while learning new features along the way. What you’ll learn - Understand the fundamentals of the open source, dynamic Groovy scripting language and the Grails web framework.
- Capitalize upon Grails’ well–defined framework architecture to build web applications faster than ever before.
- Improve your web application with cutting–edge interface enhancements using Ajax.
- Use Grails’ object–relational mapping solution, GORM, to manage your data store more effectively than ever before.
- Take advantage of Groovy to create reporting services, implement batch processing, and create alternative client interfaces.
- Deploy and upgrade your Grails–driven applications with expertise and ease.
- Discover an alternative client in Groovy as well.
Who is this book for? Java and web developers looking to learn and embrace the power and flexibility offered by the Grails framework and Groovy scripting language About the Apress Beginning Series The Beginning series from Apress is the right choice to get the information you need to land that crucial entry–level job. These books will teach you a standard and important technology from the ground up because they are explicitly designed to take you from “novice to professional.” You’ll start your journey by seeing what you need to know—but without needless theory and filler. You’ll build your skill set by learning how to put together real–world projects step by step. So whether your goal is your next career challenge or a new learning opportunity, the Beginning series from Apress will take you there—it is your trusted guide through unfamiliar territory!
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Customer Reviews
Average Customer Rating: 
A Beginner's View 2008-09-26
As a Java developer who is a true beginner with Groovy and Grails, I found Beginning Groovy and Grails an excellent starting point. The book's strength is providing a core structure for the Groovy language and the Grails framework, then building on them.
I had read other Groovy books, and still use them as a reference. But BGG kept Groovy at the right level for me to start -- showing the core features without getting bogged down in the details. I was able to work through the examples and get an excellent feel for the power and elegant simplicity of the language.
The Grails overview is an excellent start to understanding the framework. I appreciated the step by step introduction to setting up and evolving a simple web application.
In terms of writing, I found this book very readable. I wish that the copy editors had helped out a bit more in spots, and the errata pick up some glitches in code, but overall I truly appreciated the authors' efforts and have learned a great deal.
Great read! 2008-09-25
I concur with the previous reviews. I've been looking to dive deeper into Groovy and Grails for a while now. I'm hoping this is the first of many new titles to come on this subject. I would really like to see the language and the framework take off as it should. There are many people out there doing cool things with both like Graeme Rocher, Guillaume LaForge, and one of the above reviewers (Scott Davis....you gotta see this guy talk about Groovy if you can!). People who work in the Java space really should give these technologies a look. This book should really get you going. I would also suggest looking at some of the book offerings by the contributors mentioned above. Good stuff. Buy this book!
Beginning?? Says Who? 2008-08-17
Let me start by saying "Beginning Groovy and Grails" is the book that the Grails community has been clamoring for. Two very good books kicked off the Grails revolution ("Definitive Guide to Grails" and "Getting Started with Grails"), but both predate the 1.x version of Grails by many dot-versions and many years (as of the time of this review, August 2008). BGG will certainly have worthy competition on the bookshelf before long, but right now it is the book that we all have been waiting for. Luckily, it easily lives up to the heightened expectations.
After reading BGG cover to cover, it seems to break naturally into three sections: Core Groovy, Core Grails, and Ancillary Grails. This division is mine, not the authors; the table of contents lists 13 chapters with no explicit section breaks. (Whether the three sections correspond to the three authors is an interesting question -- the tone of voice and writing style is consistent across the entire book.)
The first three chapters do an admirable job of covering the Groovy language from the basics to advanced topics. Groovy offers lots of syntactic sugar that might initially catch a Java programmer off-guard. These features, once you've seen them, dramatically reduce the lines of code you have to write. But more than that, there are some fundamentally new features in Groovy that don't have an easy match in Java. Builders, Expandos, metaprogramming, and DSLs are all discussed in these early chapters. While you don't have to use these features yourself to be successful in Grails, it certainly helps the reader understand how much of the Grails "magic" occurs under the covers.
The next three chapters (Introduction to Grails, Building the User Interface, and Building Domains and Services) hit the Core Grails features hard. These 150 pages do a great job of walking you through the basics of getting a Grails application up and running with a minimum of effort. They also make testing feel like a natural part of the development process (which it should be!). Rather than having a single chapter dedicated to testing, each new topic organically includes testing as a way to validate that the new code does what it promises to do.
The remaining chapters (Security, Ajax, REST, Reporting, Batch Processing, Deploying, and Alternative Clients) make up close to half the book. Each chapter covers the subject material as advertised, including working sample code. Not every Grails application will use every feature discussed here, but I still found a clever snippet of code here or a nice explanation of a general concept that rewarded me for reading every chapter.
Overall, "Beginning Groovy and Grails" delivers on its title -- if you are new to either (or both) technologies, you will be up and running before you know it. But don't be fooled by the title; even though it has "Beginning" in it, this book doesn't shy away from the advanced topics, either. This isn't a completist volume. Rather, it is a broad survey of the Groovy and Grails ecosystem. Christopher, Joseph, and Jim covered a lot of ground in an easy, readable way. I highly recommend it.
A nice appetizer to feed on  2008-08-02
I found this book to be a great introduction to both the use of Groovy and Grails, and also introduced the implementation of these technologies into a more mainstream architecture present in modern corporate America. It offers great insight, and hands on exposure to the benefits of Grails as a means to reducing development cycle time, and has allowed me to convince senior management where I work to fund a 'Proof of Concept' implementation of a Grails application deployed on a WebLogic Application Server.
While this book certainly covered a wide range of topics, it served to only increase my desire to delve deeper into Grails and Groovy, so now I must continue onward - but thankfully, this book leads nicely into The Definitive Guide to Grails by the same publisher.
A Great Book on Groovy and Grails 2008-07-26
Whether you're new to web application development or an experienced veteran, Beginning Groovy and Grails will be a great addition to your tech. library. The book highlights the power of the Groovy language and the Grails framework while providing a great deal of breadth and practical information on topics important to web application developers, i.e, presentation, persistence, security, and reporting. Developers will get a good handle on Groovy and Grails and more importantly will understand how to locate additional resources on advanced topics. This book has given me a strong appreciation for the advantages offered by dynamic languages like Groovy and the unbelievable productivity gains introduced by Grails. This book is an excellent compliment to Groovy in Action and the Definitive Guide to Grails.
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