Programming Groovy vs Groovy in Action

I love books

.. but, I have to ask.. with Groovy in Actino out there... what does purchasing Programming in Groovy get me?

I understand Groovy in Action is based on Groovy 1.0 etc etc.

I just always like to get a feel for "whats in it for me".. trading $$ for a new book

BTW, Venkat, I saw you speak at the NFJS 2007. Good stuff (groovy and DSLs)

I keep seeing new posts on these forums.. yet this question is magically not being addressed

Originally posted by Roger Studner:
I keep seeing new posts on these forums.. yet this question is magically not being addressed

I guess Venkat is on his way answering all queries.. may be your turn comes next

I am going to wait for someone who's read both books to answer this question

That's great

and well said !

I've read both books so I'll take a stab at this one. First, don't underestimate the value of being up to date. There have been some significant changes in Groovy since GinA was published. Last I heard there are no plans for a second edition of GinA until Groovy 2.0.

Next, they are different books with different focus. For example, GinA has more thorough coverage of Builders whereas Venkat's book (PinG) has much more thorough coverage of metaprogramming. In fact the MOP stuff alone is probably worth the price of PinG.

GinA may also server better as a reference while PinG would be a better choice for a Java programmer's first Groovy book. It's shorter and a bit easier to read.

Another point is Venkat's background as an instructor (professor, trainer). This really shows in the way he explains the tricky topics. I have been working with Groovy / Grails for over a year now but I still had several "aha!" moments while reading PinG.

Bottom line, I heartily recommend Programming in Groovy even if you already have GinA.

Originally posted by Venkat Subramaniam:
I am going to wait for someone who's read both books to answer this question

Sorry, I just looked at my PDF and realized there's no 'in' in the title. Still PinG sounds better than PG.

Originally posted by Dave Klein:
I've read both books so I'll take a stab at this one. First, don't underestimate the value of being up to date. There have been some significant changes in Groovy since GinA was published. Last I heard there are no plans for a second edition of GinA until Groovy 2.0.

Next, they are different books with different focus. For example, GinA has more thorough coverage of Builders whereas Venkat's book (PinG) has much more thorough coverage of metaprogramming. In fact the MOP stuff alone is probably worth the price of PinG.

GinA may also server better as a reference while PinG would be a better choice for a Java programmer's first Groovy book. It's shorter and a bit easier to read.

Another point is Venkat's background as an instructor (professor, trainer). This really shows in the way he explains the tricky topics. I have been working with Groovy / Grails for over a year now but I still had several "aha!" moments while reading PinG.

Bottom line, I heartily recommend Programming in Groovy even if you already have GinA.

Thanks for the comparison Dave (and I like referring it PinG!).

I figured you were trying to echo classic titles like "Programming Perl" and "Programming Ruby" - both pretty much the definitive works on their languages.

Of course Programming Perl is often known as the camel book, while Programming Ruby is known as the pickaxe book. So... ummm... what's that supposed to be on the cover of Programming Groovy, anyway?

[ April 08, 2008: Message edited by: Jim Yingst ]