5 Best Groovy Books for Java Developers to Learn in 2024
My favorite books to learn Groovy from scratch for Java developers
Hello, Java programmers. If you want to learn Groovy in 2024 and look for the best resources like books and online courses, you have come to the right place. Earlier, I have shared the best Groovy online courses, and in this article, I will share the best books to learn Groovy for Java programmers.
Groovy is a programming language specially created for Java developers to be Java's fast-paced, scripting companion. It aims to increase the productivity of Java developers by simplifying Java code and removing unnecessary boilerplates.
The Groovy programming language presents a succinct and easy-to-read syntax and provides a much more elegant and convenient API than Java for common stuff.
For example, a Groovy file can do 50 lines what a Java source code does in 500 lines. You can declare an array as [] and map as [: ], which really makes code full of data without much syntax.
Because of this property, Groovy is heavily used in unit testing of Java applications. Some popular unit testing frameworks like Spock are also built on Groovy.
The Grails and Gradle framework is built using the Groovy language. Grails is the framework to develop a web application using Groovy. You’ll be amazed at how quickly you can create a real-world web application up and run from ground zero.
Grails include everything you need in a single zip file a web server (Jetty), a database (HSQLDB), Spring, Hibernate, even a Groovy version of Ant called GANT. It is more concise, expressive, and at the same time as powerful as Java itself.
It is also used heavily in build automation and DevOps space, which is one of the important skills for programmers.
Most of the Groovy books will cover some Grails and Gradle, and the same is true for Grail’s book; they offer some introduction to the Groovy programming language itself. You can learn more about unit testing and Spock in the book Java Testing with Spock.
If you want to learn more about Gradle, you can refer to Gradle in Action. Similarly, if you want to learn more about Grails, I suggest going through Grails in Action, one of the most comprehensive guides of learning Grails for Java developers.
If you like online courses, which are also a great way to learn new technology, framework, programming language, or a library, you can also check out The Complete Apache Groovy Developer Course on Udemy. It’s a comprehensive course to learn Groovy, and I recently bought it for less than $10.
My Favorite Groovy Books for Java Programmers in 2024
Here is my list of some of the best books to learn Groovy for Java developers. The list is ordered based upon my preference, I mean books that I find most suitable for learning Groovy from a Java developer point of view.
1. Making Java Groovy, by Ken Kousen
This is my favorite book on Groovy, and I guess the best book to learn Groovy for Java developers. The book is specially designed to show Java developers how to make their lives easier by adding Groovy, like reading a file or inserting rows into the database without using JDBC.
When I first started Groovy to understand one of the customized build environments written in Groovy, I needed a book that can compare Java and Groovy and teach Groovy by leveraging my knowledge in Java, and that’s where I found Making Java Groovy an excellent choice.
The book is full of useful information and easier to read, and I also like Ken’s style of leaving humor for footnotes.
In short, if you are a Java developer and want to learn Groovy in a quick time, maybe to use it for unit testing or build automation, I suggest you read Making Java Groovy By Ken Kousen first.
If you need an online course to go along with this book, I suggest you check out the Groovy Fundamentals course on Pluralsight. You will need a Pluralsight membership. If you miss the free offer, you can also use their 10-day free pass to access this course for free.
2. Groovy Recipes: Greasing the Wheels of Java
This is another great book on Groovy for busy Java developers, I mean those who like to do work and try things rather than reading.
You will find lots of how to do things in Groovy in this book which is really useful for real-world programming and their explanation, which is an excellent way to understand what’s going on.
I read this book after going through Making Java Groovy, and I picked up most of the things given in this book. In short, an excellent book if you are using Groovy for DevOps stuff in your company.
You will immediately start doing stuff in groovy after going through a couple of recipes and their explanation; such is the power of this book. It indeed put wheels on your Java to Groovy journey.
And if you need a course to go along with this book, check out Groovy Fundamentals For Testers — Step By Step on Udemy. It’s for testers but quite useful to learn Groovy from scratch.
3. Groovy in Action, Second Edition
This is one of the first and still the best book in Groovy. It is probably the most comprehensive book in Groovy. This first edition was out in 2007, which was one of the first few books on Groovy.
The second edition covers Groovy 2.4, and it’s thoroughly revised and updated for introducing Groovy to Java programmers.
After going through this book, you can use Groovy like a pro like Groovy to build new apps, unit testing, database task, and build automation and DevOps stuff.
The best part of the book is that it includes thoughts of some of the core people in Groovy, which is involved in both design and development of Groovylike Dierk Konig, Dr. Paul King, Guillaume Laforge, who is the official Groovy Project Manager and Head of Groovy Development, Hamlet D’Arcy, Cedric Champeau who is a core Groovy committer and Erik Pragt.
And, if you don’t mind learning from free resources like free online courses, you can also join this free Groovy course on Udemy — Groovy | Step by Step for Beginners by Raghav Pal, more than 12K developers have joined this free Udemy course to learn Groovy online.
4. Programming Groovy 2
The Programming Groovy 2 by Venkat Subramaniam is another great book in the Pragmatic Programmers series, which I love.
You might know that Venkat is one of my favorite authors and presenter; I loved his book on Java 8, which also lived up to expectations.
In short, It is a great book if you want to learn Groovy in deep; the advanced parts of this book are great for building your existing Groovy knowledge.
Books are great for learning new technology, but every programmer is not the same. Some programmers find online or classroom training easier than reading books. If you prefer training overbook, you can also look at The Complete Apache Groovy Developer Course, one of the best online courses to learn Groovy.
That’s all about some of the best books to learn Groovy for Java Developers. There are not many books, but these are both the best and favorite books you can read to learn Groovy from scratch. The first book is perfect for Java developers, and I recommend starting from that book.
And, If you are also interested in learning Gradle, one of the popular build frameworks and often referred to as the replacement of Maven, then you can check out The Gradle Masterclass course on Udemy, another powerful course you can get in just a few dollars.
As I have said before, Groovy has become increasingly popular among Java developers due to its concise syntax and powerful API, particularly in DevOps and unit testing space; hence it’s a good time to learn Groovy not only to simplify your day-to-day development task but also give your resume a boost by showing your polyglot programming skill.
Other programming and technology books you may like to explore
- 10 Algorithm Books for serious Programmers
- 5 Books to Every Coder Should Read
- 5 SQL Books Every Programmer Should Read
- 12 Advanced Java Programming Books — Part 1 and 2
- Top 5 Books for Programming/Coding Interviews
- 10 Books Every Software Engineer Should Read
- Best books to learn SOAP and REST Web Services
- 5 books to learn Agile and Scrum Methodology
- 3 Essential books to learn UML for Java Programmers
- 3 Books to Prepare for Spring Certification
- Top 5 Java and Android Game Programming Books
- Top 10 Free Java Programming Books and PDF
- Top 10 Java Books of the last 5 years
- Top 5 Books to learn Object-Oriented Programming
Thanks for reading this article so far. If you like these Groovy best books for Java programmers, please share them with your friends and colleagues. If you have any questions, feedback, or any other Groovy book you want to share with us, feel free to do so.
P. S. — If you are also interested in learning on Grails, the Groovy framework for developing Web applications similar to Ruby on Rails, then Introduction to Grails on Pluralsight is a good course to start with.
