What is Groovy?

[John Eric Hamacher]

Dierk:

What is Groovy and why does it exist. I've have heard the name used but I have never had the occasion to explore what it is.

Thanks
eric

[Marc Peabody]

From Groovy Homepage:
-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
-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 objects and libraries
-compiles straight to Java bytecode so you can use it anywhere you can use Java