You are viewing a plain text version of this content. The canonical link for it is here.
Posted to dev@ofbiz.apache.org by David E Jones <jo...@hotwaxmedia.com> on 2008/05/19 10:07:21 UTC
Discussion: move from Beanshell to Groovy
Thanks to some recent work from Joe Eckard OFBiz now has pretty good
support for the Groovy scripting language.
While this is kind of interesting on its own, what was really
interesting was to find out (after not looking at groovy for probably
about 4 years) that it supports nearly all of the Java syntax, and in
addition offers significant syntax sugar and functionality, including
the dot syntax we like in FTL and various OFBiz XML elements/
attributes (though it is way better than any of those...).
The reason that point peaked my interest was because my main reason
for sticking with bsh as the scripting language for OFBiz was that it
follows the Java syntax and works with most JavaScript funny business
too, and thus reduces the learning curve for both back-end and front-
end developers.
The downsides to bsh are somewhat significant, starting with the fact
that it isn't so much a community driven project as it is one man's
pet project, and to that point hasn't had a release in years. The
functionality and performance of Beanshell also leaves a lot to be
desired, especially compared to what Groovy now offers.
In spite of the fact that Groovy has received so much attention in the
press and such in recent months (well, for over a year now), and there
are funny/cool things like "Groovy on Grails" that exist, Groovy
really is a good scripting language and has some impressive features
to help with development efficiency, and makes up for many of the
things that make Java and Beanshell cumbersome to use.
So, what I am proposing is that we change the best practice
recommended scripting language in OFBiz from Beanshell to Groovy. This
would mean eventually moving all .bsh files to .groovy files (which is
fortunately easy because most, if not all, of the OFBiz bsh files will
run as-is through groovy, though it would be good to clean things up
as we go...).
The point of this thread is to open up the topic for discussion before
doing anything like a vote.
So, please research, then comment!
-David
Re: Discussion: move from Beanshell to Groovy
Posted by Ashish Vijaywargiya <vi...@gmail.com>.
+1.
On Mon, May 19, 2008 at 9:28 AM, Tim Ruppert <ti...@hotwaxmedia.com>
wrote:
> +1 - this is a great idea.
>
>
> On May 19, 2008, at 5:32 AM, Scott Gray wrote:
>
> Sounds like fun, when do we start? :-)
>>
>> I haven't had a good look yet but I like the sound of dot syntax alone.
>>
>> Regards
>> Scott
>>
>> 2008/5/19 Jacopo Cappellato <ja...@gmail.com>:
>>
>>
>>> On May 19, 2008, at 10:07 AM, David E Jones wrote:
>>>
>>>
>>> Thanks to some recent work from Joe Eckard OFBiz now has pretty good
>>>> support for the Groovy scripting language.
>>>>
>>>> While this is kind of interesting on its own, what was really
>>>> interesting
>>>> was to find out (after not looking at groovy for probably about 4 years)
>>>> that it supports nearly all of the Java syntax, and in addition offers
>>>> significant syntax sugar and functionality, including the dot syntax we
>>>> like
>>>> in FTL and various OFBiz XML elements/attributes (though it is way
>>>> better
>>>> than any of those...).
>>>>
>>>> The reason that point peaked my interest was because my main reason for
>>>> sticking with bsh as the scripting language for OFBiz was that it
>>>> follows
>>>> the Java syntax and works with most JavaScript funny business too, and
>>>> thus
>>>> reduces the learning curve for both back-end and front-end developers.
>>>>
>>>> The downsides to bsh are somewhat significant, starting with the fact
>>>> that
>>>> it isn't so much a community driven project as it is one man's pet
>>>> project,
>>>> and to that point hasn't had a release in years. The functionality and
>>>> performance of Beanshell also leaves a lot to be desired, especially
>>>> compared to what Groovy now offers.
>>>>
>>>> In spite of the fact that Groovy has received so much attention in the
>>>> press and such in recent months (well, for over a year now), and there
>>>> are
>>>> funny/cool things like "Groovy on Grails" that exist, Groovy really is a
>>>> good scripting language and has some impressive features to help with
>>>> development efficiency, and makes up for many of the things that make
>>>> Java
>>>> and Beanshell cumbersome to use.
>>>>
>>>> So, what I am proposing is that we change the best practice recommended
>>>> scripting language in OFBiz from Beanshell to Groovy. This would mean
>>>> eventually moving all .bsh files to .groovy files (which is fortunately
>>>> easy
>>>> because most, if not all, of the OFBiz bsh files will run as-is through
>>>> groovy, though it would be good to clean things up as we go...).
>>>>
>>>>
>>> It would be great to see this migration implemented soon.
>>> In my opinion, the priority could be this:
>>> 1) change the best practice recommendation
>>> 2) migrate (with minimal changes/work) all the existing .bsh scripts to
>>> .groovy scripts
>>> 3) clean and improve the migrated scripts to take full advantage of the
>>> new
>>> language
>>>
>>> We could implement #1 and #2 very soon in one big batch, while #3 could
>>> be
>>> done over time (unless we can bulk change some of the code in the
>>> scripts).
>>>
>>> Jacopo
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>> The point of this thread is to open up the topic for discussion before
>>>> doing anything like a vote.
>>>>
>>>> So, please research, then comment!
>>>>
>>>> -David
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>
>
--
Thanks & Regards
Ashish Vijaywargiya
+919893479711
Re: Discussion: move from Beanshell to Groovy
Posted by Tim Ruppert <ti...@hotwaxmedia.com>.
+1 - this is a great idea.
On May 19, 2008, at 5:32 AM, Scott Gray wrote:
> Sounds like fun, when do we start? :-)
>
> I haven't had a good look yet but I like the sound of dot syntax
> alone.
>
> Regards
> Scott
>
> 2008/5/19 Jacopo Cappellato <ja...@gmail.com>:
>
>>
>> On May 19, 2008, at 10:07 AM, David E Jones wrote:
>>
>>
>>> Thanks to some recent work from Joe Eckard OFBiz now has pretty good
>>> support for the Groovy scripting language.
>>>
>>> While this is kind of interesting on its own, what was really
>>> interesting
>>> was to find out (after not looking at groovy for probably about 4
>>> years)
>>> that it supports nearly all of the Java syntax, and in addition
>>> offers
>>> significant syntax sugar and functionality, including the dot
>>> syntax we like
>>> in FTL and various OFBiz XML elements/attributes (though it is way
>>> better
>>> than any of those...).
>>>
>>> The reason that point peaked my interest was because my main
>>> reason for
>>> sticking with bsh as the scripting language for OFBiz was that it
>>> follows
>>> the Java syntax and works with most JavaScript funny business too,
>>> and thus
>>> reduces the learning curve for both back-end and front-end
>>> developers.
>>>
>>> The downsides to bsh are somewhat significant, starting with the
>>> fact that
>>> it isn't so much a community driven project as it is one man's pet
>>> project,
>>> and to that point hasn't had a release in years. The functionality
>>> and
>>> performance of Beanshell also leaves a lot to be desired, especially
>>> compared to what Groovy now offers.
>>>
>>> In spite of the fact that Groovy has received so much attention in
>>> the
>>> press and such in recent months (well, for over a year now), and
>>> there are
>>> funny/cool things like "Groovy on Grails" that exist, Groovy
>>> really is a
>>> good scripting language and has some impressive features to help
>>> with
>>> development efficiency, and makes up for many of the things that
>>> make Java
>>> and Beanshell cumbersome to use.
>>>
>>> So, what I am proposing is that we change the best practice
>>> recommended
>>> scripting language in OFBiz from Beanshell to Groovy. This would
>>> mean
>>> eventually moving all .bsh files to .groovy files (which is
>>> fortunately easy
>>> because most, if not all, of the OFBiz bsh files will run as-is
>>> through
>>> groovy, though it would be good to clean things up as we go...).
>>>
>>
>> It would be great to see this migration implemented soon.
>> In my opinion, the priority could be this:
>> 1) change the best practice recommendation
>> 2) migrate (with minimal changes/work) all the existing .bsh
>> scripts to
>> .groovy scripts
>> 3) clean and improve the migrated scripts to take full advantage of
>> the new
>> language
>>
>> We could implement #1 and #2 very soon in one big batch, while #3
>> could be
>> done over time (unless we can bulk change some of the code in the
>> scripts).
>>
>> Jacopo
>>
>>
>>
>>>
>>> The point of this thread is to open up the topic for discussion
>>> before
>>> doing anything like a vote.
>>>
>>> So, please research, then comment!
>>>
>>> -David
>>>
>>>
>>
Re: Discussion: move from Beanshell to Groovy
Posted by Scott Gray <le...@gmail.com>.
Sounds like fun, when do we start? :-)
I haven't had a good look yet but I like the sound of dot syntax alone.
Regards
Scott
2008/5/19 Jacopo Cappellato <ja...@gmail.com>:
>
> On May 19, 2008, at 10:07 AM, David E Jones wrote:
>
>
>> Thanks to some recent work from Joe Eckard OFBiz now has pretty good
>> support for the Groovy scripting language.
>>
>> While this is kind of interesting on its own, what was really interesting
>> was to find out (after not looking at groovy for probably about 4 years)
>> that it supports nearly all of the Java syntax, and in addition offers
>> significant syntax sugar and functionality, including the dot syntax we like
>> in FTL and various OFBiz XML elements/attributes (though it is way better
>> than any of those...).
>>
>> The reason that point peaked my interest was because my main reason for
>> sticking with bsh as the scripting language for OFBiz was that it follows
>> the Java syntax and works with most JavaScript funny business too, and thus
>> reduces the learning curve for both back-end and front-end developers.
>>
>> The downsides to bsh are somewhat significant, starting with the fact that
>> it isn't so much a community driven project as it is one man's pet project,
>> and to that point hasn't had a release in years. The functionality and
>> performance of Beanshell also leaves a lot to be desired, especially
>> compared to what Groovy now offers.
>>
>> In spite of the fact that Groovy has received so much attention in the
>> press and such in recent months (well, for over a year now), and there are
>> funny/cool things like "Groovy on Grails" that exist, Groovy really is a
>> good scripting language and has some impressive features to help with
>> development efficiency, and makes up for many of the things that make Java
>> and Beanshell cumbersome to use.
>>
>> So, what I am proposing is that we change the best practice recommended
>> scripting language in OFBiz from Beanshell to Groovy. This would mean
>> eventually moving all .bsh files to .groovy files (which is fortunately easy
>> because most, if not all, of the OFBiz bsh files will run as-is through
>> groovy, though it would be good to clean things up as we go...).
>>
>
> It would be great to see this migration implemented soon.
> In my opinion, the priority could be this:
> 1) change the best practice recommendation
> 2) migrate (with minimal changes/work) all the existing .bsh scripts to
> .groovy scripts
> 3) clean and improve the migrated scripts to take full advantage of the new
> language
>
> We could implement #1 and #2 very soon in one big batch, while #3 could be
> done over time (unless we can bulk change some of the code in the scripts).
>
> Jacopo
>
>
>
>>
>> The point of this thread is to open up the topic for discussion before
>> doing anything like a vote.
>>
>> So, please research, then comment!
>>
>> -David
>>
>>
>
Re: Discussion: move from Beanshell to Groovy
Posted by Joe Eckard <jo...@redrocketcorp.com>.
+1
On May 19, 2008, at 6:27 AM, Jacopo Cappellato wrote:
> It would be great to see this migration implemented soon.
> In my opinion, the priority could be this:
> 1) change the best practice recommendation
> 2) migrate (with minimal changes/work) all the existing .bsh scripts
> to .groovy scripts
I think this step would be fairly easy - just rename all of the .bsh
scripts to .groovy - however a catch with our existing scripts is that
when you have a script fragment with no class declaration, the script
name becomes the class name, e.g. category.bsh becomes category and
then you can't have an untyped variable named "category" in that
script, since it conflicts with the class. The suggested workaround is
to not use lowercase filenames (switch to Category.groovy) or to
explicitly type the category variable.
>
> 3) clean and improve the migrated scripts to take full advantage of
> the new language
>
> We could implement #1 and #2 very soon in one big batch, while #3
> could be done over time (unless we can bulk change some of the code
> in the scripts).
>
> Jacopo
Re: Discussion: move from Beanshell to Groovy
Posted by Jacopo Cappellato <ja...@gmail.com>.
On May 19, 2008, at 10:07 AM, David E Jones wrote:
>
> Thanks to some recent work from Joe Eckard OFBiz now has pretty good
> support for the Groovy scripting language.
>
> While this is kind of interesting on its own, what was really
> interesting was to find out (after not looking at groovy for
> probably about 4 years) that it supports nearly all of the Java
> syntax, and in addition offers significant syntax sugar and
> functionality, including the dot syntax we like in FTL and various
> OFBiz XML elements/attributes (though it is way better than any of
> those...).
>
> The reason that point peaked my interest was because my main reason
> for sticking with bsh as the scripting language for OFBiz was that
> it follows the Java syntax and works with most JavaScript funny
> business too, and thus reduces the learning curve for both back-end
> and front-end developers.
>
> The downsides to bsh are somewhat significant, starting with the
> fact that it isn't so much a community driven project as it is one
> man's pet project, and to that point hasn't had a release in years.
> The functionality and performance of Beanshell also leaves a lot to
> be desired, especially compared to what Groovy now offers.
>
> In spite of the fact that Groovy has received so much attention in
> the press and such in recent months (well, for over a year now), and
> there are funny/cool things like "Groovy on Grails" that exist,
> Groovy really is a good scripting language and has some impressive
> features to help with development efficiency, and makes up for many
> of the things that make Java and Beanshell cumbersome to use.
>
> So, what I am proposing is that we change the best practice
> recommended scripting language in OFBiz from Beanshell to Groovy.
> This would mean eventually moving all .bsh files to .groovy files
> (which is fortunately easy because most, if not all, of the OFBiz
> bsh files will run as-is through groovy, though it would be good to
> clean things up as we go...).
It would be great to see this migration implemented soon.
In my opinion, the priority could be this:
1) change the best practice recommendation
2) migrate (with minimal changes/work) all the existing .bsh scripts
to .groovy scripts
3) clean and improve the migrated scripts to take full advantage of
the new language
We could implement #1 and #2 very soon in one big batch, while #3
could be done over time (unless we can bulk change some of the code in
the scripts).
Jacopo
>
>
> The point of this thread is to open up the topic for discussion
> before doing anything like a vote.
>
> So, please research, then comment!
>
> -David
>
Re: Discussion: move from Beanshell to Groovy
Posted by Jacques Le Roux <ja...@les7arts.com>.
Thanks Joe, thanks David !
http://groovy.codehaus.org/Groovy+Console and http://groovy.codehaus.org/Eclipse+Plugin (+IntelliJ, etc.) , sound appealing too and
Groovy seems to give a lot of good support directly from its home page :o)
I know at least one OFBiz project which is already using groovy, this will please these folks !
Jacques
From: "David E Jones" <jo...@hotwaxmedia.com>
>
> Thanks to some recent work from Joe Eckard OFBiz now has pretty good support for the Groovy scripting language.
>
> While this is kind of interesting on its own, what was really interesting was to find out (after not looking at groovy for
> probably about 4 years) that it supports nearly all of the Java syntax, and in addition offers significant syntax sugar and
> functionality, including the dot syntax we like in FTL and various OFBiz XML elements/ attributes (though it is way better than
> any of those...).
>
> The reason that point peaked my interest was because my main reason for sticking with bsh as the scripting language for OFBiz was
> that it follows the Java syntax and works with most JavaScript funny business too, and thus reduces the learning curve for both
> back-end and front- end developers.
>
> The downsides to bsh are somewhat significant, starting with the fact that it isn't so much a community driven project as it is
> one man's pet project, and to that point hasn't had a release in years. The functionality and performance of Beanshell also
> leaves a lot to be desired, especially compared to what Groovy now offers.
>
> In spite of the fact that Groovy has received so much attention in the press and such in recent months (well, for over a year
> now), and there are funny/cool things like "Groovy on Grails" that exist, Groovy really is a good scripting language and has
> some impressive features to help with development efficiency, and makes up for many of the things that make Java and Beanshell
> cumbersome to use.
>
> So, what I am proposing is that we change the best practice recommended scripting language in OFBiz from Beanshell to Groovy.
> This would mean eventually moving all .bsh files to .groovy files (which is fortunately easy because most, if not all, of the
> OFBiz bsh files will run as-is through groovy, though it would be good to clean things up as we go...).
>
> The point of this thread is to open up the topic for discussion before doing anything like a vote.
>
> So, please research, then comment!
>
> -David
>