Which tools to use for Grails Development

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+1 Q:

Which tools to use for Grails Development

I've recently started using Grails and I have the following questions about the available tools for development on the framework:

I tried using maven with the a project, but that wasn't working so I switched to the in-built ant/ivy system. It works fine and is easy to use, but I'm curious if down the road there may be problems - i.e. during deployment time.
I started with Gedit, but would like to switch to either Netbeans or Eclipse. While both have groovy and gsp support, neither seems to be able to use ivy. Does anyone know how to configure either to use the ivy cache?

Edit:

My second question is similar to http://stackoverflow.com/questions/1869574/how-to-make-use-of-grails-dependencies-in-your-ide

Essentially, I'd like to make use of the dependencies gathered by grails (BuildConfig.groovy) in the ivy cache in eclipse or netbeans.

+1 A:

I don't see what Ant, Ivy, or Maven are doing for you here. Isn't Grails itself enough?

I'd recommend IntelliJ for its wonderful Grails support over either NetBeans or Eclipse.

duffymo 2010-06-28 13:52:40

I'm accustomed to maven for project management. When I started my grails app I used maven. Unfortunately, nothing worked while using maven. As a result I switched to grails built-in dependency management tools i.e. ant/ivy. The biggest problem I facing now is that neither netbeans nor eclipse acknowledges the jars in the ivy cache.

Ari 2010-06-28 17:34:41

I'm arguing that I can do Grails without Maven or Ant or Ivy. You might be forcing your past experience in where it's not needed.

duffymo 2010-06-28 17:54:06

Could you elaborate on how you "can do Grails without Maven or Ant or Ivy..."

Ari 2010-06-28 20:47:12

Run the Grails commands in a command shell. Look at the docs: http://grails.org/Documentation. Do you see Maven or Ant or Ivy in sight? Create the project and you get the JARs you need. Run the app and you're deployed and visible in a browser. What is Maven or Ivy or Eclipse doing for you?

duffymo 2010-06-28 21:49:13

I've been using grails dependency resolution DSL built on Ivy (see -- http://grails.org/Ivy+Integration).As for Eclipse, I want it to recognize the already available dependencies, but alas it does not and shows squiggly red lines everywhere for the "missing" dependenices.

Ari 2010-06-29 14:13:46

Sounds like Eclipse doesn't have those JARs added to its project CLASSPATH. It doesn't assume anything. I'd right click on project, select "properties", and add the JARs to your CLASSPATH.

duffymo 2010-06-29 16:59:13

+2 A:

Both NetBeans 6.8+ and Eclipse STS 2.2.0+ with the Groovy & Grails extension offer very good Groovy & Grails support (IntelliJ is another great candidate but AFAIK, you'll have to get the Ultimate version for Grails features).

Regarding Ivy, I know that there is an IvyIDE plugin for Eclipse and an Ivy module for NetBeans (also check the FaqIvy).

Pascal Thivent 2010-06-28 14:06:12

Correct regarding ultimate version of IntelliJ. Well worth it, even if it's your money.

duffymo 2010-06-28 17:54:38

@duffymo: IntelliJ is definitely a great IDE. I like to say "use the tool you're productive with" though. I guess this is where you'd answer "you'd be more productive with IntelliJ" :)

Pascal Thivent 2010-06-29 19:45:42

Pascal, you read my mind. 8)

duffymo 2010-06-29 22:42:44

+2 A:

I'd suggest using SpringSource Tool Suite. Not only because it has great Grails support but because SpringSource is the company behind the Grails project. IMO they're destined to have the best tools for it :)

eugener 2010-06-28 21:04:04

Developing a framework and developing IDE tools are two different things. Being able to do the former doesn't imply you're good at doing the later (I'm not saying STS + the Grails extension isn't good, I'm just saying there is no evidence SpringSource will produce the best tool).

Pascal Thivent 2010-06-29 19:38:05

Even though theoretically Pascal is correct, SpringSource has a very good track record for producing the tools. I personally used Grails plugin in STS and can attest that it is a superior tool. Same goes for Spring framework support.

eugener 2010-06-29 20:03:27

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