Overview of Groovy for UCD

Apache Groovy is a Java syntax compatible language which is designed to be easier to use as a scripting language. It has has a number of ‘enhancements’ to the core Java language, such as Closures. It is a loosely typed language, unlike Java, which is a strongly typed language.

Groovy is embedded into UrbanCode Deploy and is configured to be easily used when implementing UCD Plugins. Note that plugins can be written in many languages other than groovy, but even the majority of the plugins published by IBM are written in Groovy.

Personally, Groovy is my language of choice when working on UCD Plugins. As such, I use Groovy extensively with UrbanCode Deploy. Therefore, I have come up with various tips and tricks for using Groovy effectively. Some of my Groovy tips are generic to Groovy and some are specific to UrbanCode.