# Groovy news bits: API additions, contributing to the project, Eclipse plugin

> Get the latest Groovy news: new 1.8.6 API features, a guide to contributing, and updates for the Groovy Eclipse plugin.

Author: [Guillaume Laforge](https://glaforge.dev/) | Published: 2012-03-05 | Topics: groovy | Canonical: https://glaforge.dev/posts/2012/03/05/groovy-news-bits-api-additions-contributing-to-the-project-eclipse-plugin/


With the recent [release of Groovy 1.8.6](https://glaforge.dev/posts/2012/02/09/groovy-1-8-6-released/), Groovy contributor Tim Yates, posted a few blog posts about some of the little useful enhancements that found their way in the release:

*   [`Array#contains()`](http://blog.bloidonia.com/post/18186368994/whats-new-in-groovy-1-8-6-array-contains)
*   [`Byte[]#encodeHex()`](http://blog.bloidonia.com/post/18125339463/whats-new-in-groovy-1-8-6-byte-encodehex)
*   the very useful [`collate()` method](http://blog.bloidonia.com/post/18073244930/whats-new-in-groovy-1-8-6-the-collate-method)

Tim also wrote a really great and detailed blog post explaining [how to contribute to the Groovy project](http://blog.bloidonia.com/post/17711808015/submitting-code-to-the-groovy-language). Be sure to check it out if you've always wanted to contribute to the project. Tim shows how to get started, to propose a new feature or bug fix through JIRA, how to submit a pull request through GitHub, etc.  

[Tim Yates' blog](http://blog.bloidonia.com/) is worth subscribing to!  

And last but no least, hot from the oven, Andrew Eisenberg from the Groovy Eclipse team covers the [latest enhancements to the Groovy Eclipse plugin](http://docs.codehaus.org/display/GROOVY/Groovy-Eclipse+2.6.1+New+and+Noteworthy): with various inferencing enhancements, new quick fixes and quick assists, and more.