Book Image

Introduction to JVM Languages

By : van der Leun
Book Image

Introduction to JVM Languages

By: van der Leun

Overview of this book

Anyone who knows software development knows about the Java Virtual Machine. The Java Virtual Machine is responsible for interpreting Java byte code and translating it into actions. In the beginning, Java was the only programming language used for the JVM. But increasing complexity of the language and the remarkable performance of the JVM created an opening for a new generation of programming languages. If you want to build a strong foundation with the Java Virtual Machine and get started with popular modern programming languages, then this book is for you. The book will begin with a general introduction of the JVM and its features, which are common to the JVM languages, helping you get abreast with its concepts. It will then dive into explaining languages such as Java, Scala, Clojure, Kotlin, and Groovy and will show how to work with each language, their features, use cases, and pros and cons. By writing example projects in those languages and focusing on each language’s strong points, it will help you find the programming language that is most appropriate for your particular needs. By the end of the book, you will have written multiple programs that run on the Java Virtual Machine and know about the differences between the various languages.
Table of Contents (15 chapters)

Summary

In this chapter, you were introduced to Groovy, a popular dynamic language on the JVM. We downloaded and installed it and explored its two REPL shells, GroovyConsole (desktop GUI application) and GroovyShell (text-based shell). We discovered that while Java and Groovy syntax are (for the most part) compatible, Groovy code can be much more compact, as many elements that are required in Java are optional in Groovy. We tried various annotations that generate code automatically on the fly, including annotations that generate valid implementations for the toString(), equals() and hashCode() methods, but also generate complete constructors. We briefly explored the Groovy Development Kit (GDK) and looked at the differences between dynamic programming and static programming and discovered that Groovy supports both methods.

In the next chapter, we will create a simple web service...