Thread: Java vs Groovy

Hi! So, I'm new to Java and I'm a bit confused.

I recently found out about a language called Groovy, which is supposedly very similar syntactically to Java, but is slimmed down and simpler. Groovy is apparently also an 'interpreted' language, yet can be compiled to java bytecode and run on the JVM also.

I found this: 'groovyconsole dot appconsole dot com' online groovy console which allows you to throw some groovy code at it, and it instantly provides the result.

My question: Why can't this be done with Java? Is is just the compiled vs interpreted thing, or is there some deeper security issue, where Groovy is safer to run untrusted code because it's simpler?

According to the creator of GroovyConsole, he didn't even sandbox the code, he just used Google App Engine and that provided enough security. Presumably that's not possible with Java?

Thanks in advance for your help!

As far as I know groovy code is translated into java byte-code before being interpreted, so everything possible with groovy should be possible with java too. Its just the different way to use it.

Originally Posted by Cornix

As far as I know groovy code is translated into java byte-code before being interpreted, so everything possible with groovy should be possible with java too. Its just the different way to use it.

But Groovy can be run in the command line too, no? I assumed that was how it's able to be interpreted like Ruby or Python here.

Java and Groovy both are JDK based languages . Java is strongly and statically typed language whereas Groovy is dynamically and optionally typed language .
The best things about groovy is that Since it extends JDK , it accepts the java code .