# Groovy Weekly #32

> Groovy Weekly #32: Dive into GR8Conf US 2014 highlights, new Griffon & Groovy releases, Gradle updates, and the latest ecosystem news.

Author: [Guillaume Laforge](https://glaforge.dev/) | Published: 2014-07-30 | Topics: groovy, groovy-weekly | Canonical: https://glaforge.dev/posts/2014/07/30/groovy-weekly-32/


Live from GR8Conf US 2014, in Minneapolis, MN, USA! The code samples and slides of presentations are already flowing and are listed below in the presentations section. Lots of great content and talks to learn from.

## Releases

*   Andrés Almiray [released Griffon 2.0.0-rc-1](http://griffon-user.3225736.n2.nabble.com/ANN-Griffon-2-0-0-RC1-released-td7578844.html) live on stage at GR8Conf US 2014, along with the announcement of the [new Griffon website](http://new.griffon-framework.org/)
*   Cédric Champeau announces the [releases of Groovy 2.3.6 and Groovy 2.4.0-beta-2](http://groovy.329449.n5.nabble.com/ANN-Groovy-2-3-5-released-and-upward-compatibility-td5720557.html#a5720571)
*   Guillaume Laforge announced [Groovy 2.3.5 with upward compatibility](https://glaforge.dev/posts/2014/07/25/groovy-2-3-5-out-with-upward-compatibility/)
*   Cédric Champeau released [v0.3.0 of the Gradle Groovy Android plugin](https://twitter.com/cedricchampeau/status/492594605003902976), allowing you to support Android libraries
*   Cédric Champeau announces [v0.1.2 of the JMH Gradle plugin](https://twitter.com/cedricchampeau/status/493493646940184576)
*   Kunal Dabir released [Glide 0.3.3](http://glide-gae.appspot.com), with upgraded dependencies, and more goodness for Windows
*   Cédric Champeau releases a [Japicmp Gradle plugin](https://github.com/melix/japicmp-gradle-plugin) to compare binary compatibility between JAR binaries
*   [Gradle Shadow plugin 1.0.3](https://twitter.com/johnrengelman/status/494228881155424256) released
    
## News

*   [ElasticSearch using Groovy scripting by default](http://www.elasticsearch.org/blog/elasticsearch-1-3-0-released/)
*   The [new Griffon website](http://new.griffon-framework.org/index.html) is online!
*   Dan Woods is contributing an [Apache Camel module for Ratpack](https://github.com/ratpack/ratpack/pull/395)
*   Jacob Aae Mikkelsen published [Grails Diary](http://grydeske.net/news/show/54), week 30

## Articles

*   Ryan Vanderwerf on [getting started with programming with Groovy on Lego Mindstorms](http://rvanderwerf.blogspot.com/2014/07/lego-mindstorms-ev3-lejos-and-groovy.html) EV3
*   Andrés Almiray's [Gradle Glam: JaCoCo + CoverAlls](http://www.jroller.com/aalmiray/entry/gradle_glam_jacoco_coveralls)
*   [NullObject pattern implementation](http://solidsoft.wordpress.com/2014/06/05/null-object-pattern-implementation-in-groovy-a-map-with-default-behavior/) in Groovy, a map with default behavior, by Marcin Zajączkowski
*   John Ferguson Smart wrote about data-driven testing with JUnit and highlighting [Spock's data-driven approach](https://weblogs.java.net/blog/johnsmart/archive/2014/07/23/data-driven-unit-testing-java)
*   Guide showing how to use [Grails' REST support from GSPs using GrooScript](http://grooscript.org/grails-plugin/rest-demo.html)
*   Craig Burke writes about [Grails, Angular.JS and the Asset pipeline](http://www.craigburke.com/2014/07/24/angular-grails-asset-pipeline.html)
*   Andrés Almiray shows how to [test JavaFX services, the Griffon way](http://www.jroller.com/aalmiray/entry/how_to_test_javafx_services1)
*   Juan Vazquez wrote about adding map / filter / reduce [method aliases with a Groovy extension module](http://javazquez.com/juan/2013/02/05/add-map-reduce-and-filter-to-groovy-with-groovy-extension-modules/)
*   André Steingreß explained how to create your own [Groovy type checking extensions](http://blog.andresteingress.com/2013/01/25/groovy-2-1-type-checking-extensions/)
*   [WebSocket support with GrooScript within Grails](http://grooscript.org/grails-plugin/websocket-support.html) applications
*   [Email tracking with MailGun in a Grails](http://www.intelligrape.com/blog/2014/07/24/email-tracking-using-mailgun-with-grails-application/) application
*   [Jsoup for the Grails soul](http://www.intelligrape.com/blog/2014/07/24/jsoup-for-the-grails-soul/)
*   A [Gradle tutorial series](http://rominirani.com/2014/07/28/gradle-tutorial-series-an-overview/)
*   Gradle Tutorial: Part 1 — [Installation + Setup](http://rominirani.com/2014/07/28/gradle-tutorial-part-1-installation-setup/)
*   Gradle Tutorial: Part 2 — [Java Projects](http://rominirani.com/2014/07/28/gradle-tutorial-part-2-java-projects/)
*   Gradle Tutorial: Part 3 — [Multiple Java Projects](http://rominirani.com/2014/07/29/gradle-tutorial-part-3-multiple-java-projects/)
*   [InfoQ on ElasticSearch using Groovy for scripting](http://www.infoq.com/news/2014/07/elasticsearch-1-3-0)

## Presentations

*   Cédric Champeau demonstrates the [Groovy support for developing Android applications](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AebkFsfcuDg&feature=youtu.be&a)
*   Jeff Beck published his GR8Conf US 2014 [Ratpack intro presentation and code](https://github.com/beckje01/ratpack-subscription-api)
*   Colin Harrington published his GR8Conf US 2014 presentation slides on [how to test your Grails application](http://slides.com/colinharrington/how-to-test-your-grails-application#/)
*   Colin Harrington on [functional testing your Grails apps with Geb](http://slides.com/colinharrington/functional-testing-your-grails-app-with-geb--2#/), at GR8Conf US 2014
*   Ryan Vanderwerf on [getting Grails / Groovy into the enterprise](https://twitter.com/ryanvanderwerf/status/493895466480717825), at GR8Conf US 2014
*   Ted Naleid on us[ing the Grails Asset pipeline](https://speakerdeck.com/tednaleid/using-grails-asset-pipeline-plugin), presented at GR8Conf US 2014
*   [Performance tuning Grails applications](http://www.slideshare.net/lhotari/performance-tuning-grails-applications-applications-gr8-confus) by Lari Hotari at GR8Conf US 2014
*   [Fine-grained security](https://github.com/onetribeyoyo/fine-grained-security) by Andy Miller at GR8Conf US 2014
*   [Grails 3 and Ratpack, Micro-services](http://fr.slideshare.net/lhotari/ratpack-and-grails-3-gr8confus), and more, by Lari Hotari, at GR8Conf US 2014
*   [GR8Conf US 2014 slides and samples](https://twitter.com/gr8confus/status/494255220654764032) are being collected on Github

## Mailing-list posts

*   Interesting thread on the Groovy user list about [Groovy performance, advocating Groovy vs Java](http://groovy.329449.n5.nabble.com/Advocating-Groovy-vs-Java-td5720573.html), and more

## Tweets

*   How [Target is embracing Groovy](https://twitter.com/targetcareers/status/494156672420831232)
*   [Highlight.js now supports Groovy syntax highlighting](https://twitter.com/highlightjs/status/492421799410282496)
*   Guillaume Laforge contributed a [Groovy logo for the devicons font](https://twitter.com/glaforge/status/492206420017049600)
*   [Vert.x 2.1.2](https://twitter.com/gvmtool/status/492244790101426176) is available through GVM
*   Angel Ruiz likes Java 8 streams but [loves Tim Yates' Groovy streams](https://twitter.com/aruizca/status/492551332218159104) even more
*   [Glide 0.3.3](https://twitter.com/gvmtool/status/493004971810762752) available through GVM
*   [Groovy 2.3.5](https://twitter.com/gvmtool/status/493042458318864384) available through GVM
*   Jeff Beck suggests to [use GVM and Lazybones for getting started with Ratpack](https://twitter.com/sheetsj/status/493841650217545728)
*   A new Groovy-related account to follow on Twitter with [Groovy puzzlers](https://twitter.com/groovypuzzlers/status/493821368157220865)
*   Ken Kousen showed the nice [Grails url-mapping-reports command](https://twitter.com/rfletcherew/status/494138116043997184) on stage
*   Rob Fletcher claims [Ratpack is your gateway drug to non-blocking](https://twitter.com/elanorriley/status/494205248500555778)
*   Thanks to the GR8Ladies work, we're seeing [more women participating to GR8Conf](https://twitter.com/wmacgyver/status/494234801348812801)
*   Scott Hickey is still [impressed, amazed and appreciative of the Groovy community](https://twitter.com/jshickey/status/494263654166982657) after 9 years of using Groovy in various enterprise projects

## Code snippets

*   Andrés Almiray shows how to [aggregate JaCoCo reports in a multi-project Gradle build](https://gist.github.com/aalmiray/e6f54aa4b3803be0bcac)
*   Luke Daley adds [test support for async support in Ratpack](https://github.com/ratpack/ratpack/blob/master/ratpack-test/src/test/groovy/ratpack/test/exec/ExecHarnessSpec.groovy#L27)
*   Andrey Hihlovskiy shows a snippet [removing parts of a string with regular expressions](https://twitter.com/andreyhihlovski/status/492930646252457984)
*   Cédric Champeau shows an example [usage of the Groovy Android Gradle plugin with an Android library](https://twitter.com/cedricchampeau/status/492611846953005056)
*   MrHaki’s GR8Conf US 2014 G\* Goodness talks’ samples:
    *   [code samples of his Gradle Goodness presentation](https://github.com/mrhaki/gr8conf2014us-gradle-goodness)
    *   [code samples of his Grails Goodness presentation](https://github.com/mrhaki/gr8conf2014us-grails-goodness)
    *   [code samples of his Groovy Goodness presentation](https://github.com/mrhaki/gr8conf2014us-groovy-goodness)
*   Erik Pragt shares a snippet of code showing [exceptions implementing a no-stacktrace trait to make exceptions fast and cheap](https://gist.github.com/bodiam/2ab1b98a1abb33f5ba1b)

## Books

*   [Grails in Action, 2nd edition, is available in epub and kindle formats](https://twitter.com/ManningBooks/status/492749460603432960)

## Events

*   [Early bird for SpringOne2GX is ending on August 9th](https://2014.event.springone2gx.com/register)

## Jobs

*   [Target is hiring Groovy developers](https://twitter.com/danveloper/status/494214232343203840)