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Groovy JSR: A New Era for Java?

Posted by timothy on from the coffee's-always-been-there dept.

fastdecade writes "Groovy, the open-source scripting language, has been submitted for a Java Specification Request (JSR). And not without strong support from venerable J2EE practitioner/author, Richard Monson-Haefel, who labels this "the beginning of a new era in the Java platform". Groovy can use Java objects easily and compiles to JVM byte code, but it is nonetheless a scripting language at heart and a great companion for the more heavyweight Java programming language. Most JSRs concern new APIs, and this is the first JSR for an alternative language. Imagine a common platform of standardised languages talking to each other ... this looms as a big threat to .Net and a rejuvenation of the Java platform."

5 of 100 comments (clear)

  1. Isn't this more a threat to Perl than .Net? by ObviousGuy · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Having a glue language to tie together Java objects is definitely cool, as is having the scripting language compile down to bytecode for easy deployment.

    I guess in some obscene way, one could infer that Java is somehow a threat to .Net because its set of tools has grown a little, but Groovy itself seems to be more a threat to Perl and Python and other scripting languages rather than anything Microsoft is doing (except for WSH, but is anyone really using that?) Having a scripting language that can reach directly into Java bytecode without having to invoke a separate VM is a great improvement over the current methods of running external Java programs.

    Frankly, to me, it doesn't matter which 'platform' succeeds. Both frameworks exist on many platforms, so whichever wins, we all benefit.

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  2. Let Me Get This Straight by Markus+Registrada · · Score: 4, Insightful
    This is like Python, except it's less portable (because JVMs are less widely ported than Python), and has a bigger memory footprint (because it uses JVM garbage collection instead of Python reference-counting), and it uses libraries with different actual semantics and different bugs on different platforms (because they're the Java libraries).

    It sounds to me like anywhere you think you want this, you would be better off with actual Python.

    1. Re:Let Me Get This Straight by malachid69 · · Score: 4, Insightful
      it's less portable (because JVMs are less widely ported than Python)

      What platforms is Java NOT ported to?

      I know it is available for Windows, Linux, FreeBSD, AIX, HP-UX, Solaris, AS/400, Handhelds (Palm, Handspring, SaveJe, etc), and direct hardware (PTCU and TINI)... What's missing?

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    2. Re:Let Me Get This Straight by Pengo · · Score: 4, Insightful

      "It sounds to me like anywhere you think you want this, you would be better off with actual Python."

      Unless you want access to any of the miriad of Java libraries that are available, such as JDBC drivers, XML parsers, SOAP tools and 3rd party components you may want to use unless you prefer to use something like Jython.

      I have to work with other bits of code and systems all the time, and thats the main headache with using Python that I run into.

      Python might be king of quick hacks, but for a large-scale project where bits of scripting code might be appropriate, this sounds like an excelent option where you would NOT be better off with python.

  3. rejuvenation? by sfjoe · · Score: 4, Insightful

    ...and a rejuvenation of the Java platform.

    I think people who make statements like this aren't really aware of how widespread the usage of Java is in enterprise and multi-tiered systems.

    Java is not just applets.

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