What a the best books for learning Groovy and Grails for an experienced Java developer?
+5
A:
I'd recommend waiting until new versions of Grails in Action or Grails: The Definitive Guide are released that cover the latest 1.2.0 release. There's no major changes over 1.1.x (which most current books will be based on) but a lot of nice new features that might be useful.
If you want to buy something today then either Grails in Action, or Grails: The Definitive Guide are the way to go.
cheers
Lee
leebutts
2009-12-24 06:49:42
Personally, I found the "Grails: The Definitive Guide" book to simply be a repeat of the user guide on the grails site. Although there is some additional explanation and code, it doesn't seem like enough to justify the cost of the book.
Blacktiger
2009-12-30 23:08:18
True, the user guide is getting pretty good. You have to remember that DGG was written back in the days when it wasn't :)I think the next version of DGG will definitely have plenty of extra information over the user guide.
leebutts
2009-12-31 01:45:11
+1
A:
Prior to one of the Grails books, I'd strongly recommend getting familiar with Groovy. "Groovy in Action" is my favorite book for this. There is a 1st edition available and the second edition is currently in writing.
The 1st edition is also available in a German translation "Groovy im Einsatz".
Stefan
2009-12-24 10:06:02
+7
A:
As mentioned here, Grails In Action is probably the best book for Grails.
I was not able to locate it in India though and learnt my Grails from several online sources as well as a lovely chapter in Groovy In Action.
These free online pdfs are great (I am unable to post the urls because this is my first post on SO and they don't allow new users more than one hyperlink, so please google for them):
Jason Rudolph's Getting Started with Grails
Apress: Beginning Groovy and Grails: From Novice to Professional
These have printed versions that you can buy as well.
IBM developerWorks has excellent sets of tutorials on Grails and Groovy:
Mastering Grails
Practically Groovy
Great free cheatsheets on Groovy and Grails can be found on refcardz: http://refcardz.dzone.com/.
Rohit
2009-12-24 11:40:21
Michael Easter
2009-12-29 15:32:48
+4
A:
The two that I'd primarily recommend:
Groovy in Action. 1st edition has been out for a while and the second edition is on its way.
Beyond that, The Definitive Guide to Grails was written by the creator of Grails and is good and I use it as more of a reference book than to learning. I would also recommend Grails: A Quick-Start Guide
If you wanted to go further (and aren't that familiar with Spring) then you may want to consider pick up a Spring book since Grails is Spring under the covers.
Colin Harrington
2009-12-24 18:45:09
+1 on Quick Start for newbies. +1 on Definitive for intermediate/advanced and as a reference. Both excellent
Michael Easter
2009-12-29 15:41:04
+1
A:
Here's my two cents:
Groovy
Groovy in Action - a great book, but now dangerously out-of-date, particularly the section about meta-programming. Either wait until the new version is published or buy
Programming Groovy: Dynamic Productivity for the Java Developer - More up-to-date than Groovy in Action and also a lot shorter.
Grails
The Definitive Guide to Grails - Great book, but doesn't cover the new features in Grails 1.2
Grails in Action - Haven't read this one but I've heard it's very good and the "In Action" series are usually pretty reliable. Also doesn't cover Grails 1.2
Don
2009-12-29 14:33:43
+1
A:
I would suggest the InfoQ Getting Started with Grails, 2nd Edition which covers Grails 1.2, is free and it's a nice intro to Grails. http://www.infoq.com/minibooks/grails-getting-started
LaSombra
2010-02-27 21:23:00
A:
The best book for studying Grails is a The Pragmatic Bookshelf | Grails
eugenn
2010-03-15 09:01:01