Mbenhajla's Blog

Grails auf google appEngine

mbenhajla — Mon, 14 Jun 2010 20:52:30 +0000

I gave last time Google AppEngine a try, and developed a small Grails Test Application , and deployed it on the google Infrastructure ( appEngine). Here’s a quick Summary of The Steps you need to do:

Time spent: 2-3 Hours
Costs: Free, Developers will only pay after their Application surpasses the
Free limits

installation AppEngine SDK: download Link
, set APPENGINE_HOME in your environment
installation Grails: NetBeans+ Grails (1.1.1) + Grails appEngine Plugin
download Link
specify google.appengine.sdk in your grails-app/conf/BuildConfig.groovy file
example: google.appengine.sdk=”/home/myname/google/appengine-java-sdk-1.3.0″
Create Application in appEngine https://appengine.google.com/start/createapp (Registration needed)
Create Application in Grails ( use the same name)
Create Domain Class ( persist mit JDO)
Deploy from the Console: grails app-engine deploy
Enter your Google App Engine password
Check your application under: http://http://{myapp}.appspot.com/

Your Application is Online with NO Cost of Infrastructure, as long you don’ t exceed The Quotas , every thing is Free ( Logging, Monitoring and Statistic included !!) ..Perfect..

Why Groovy ?

mbenhajla — Sun, 07 Feb 2010 17:23:42 +0000

The Future of the Java Plattform lays in the new Programming Languages Like Groovy, Scala , JRuby ..which begann to gain Momentum in the Last Years, and i think will be the MainStream in the next Years.
As JAVA Software developper we don’t have the TIME to learn all these coming Languages, as we must keep working on our daily Projects.
Something is already clear today: Java as a Language is definitly beginnig to loose “Terrain” , but i hope it will survive as a Plattform for very long.
Java Developpers are beginning today to switch to new Technolgies, to keep track with the future Trends.
As a java Web Developer my self I decided end of 2008 to choose one of those Languages and look deeper into it.
After Reading some Articles and Blogs, looking at Samples and Comparaisons, My choice fell on “Groovy”.
The 2 Main Reasons of my Choice were very pragmatic:
- the Syntax of Groovy seemed to me to the easist one to learn for a java Developer
- AND The excellent “Grails Framework” was the second Reason since my main Focus is developping Web Applications…

Following is a short list of some other Pro’s of Groovy:

Quick transition for Java Developper
bidirectional use of Java Code directly in Groovy Projects, and Groovy Code in java Projects
Builder Concept eases the Work with XML, SWING,;….
Design Pattern are easy to understand in Groovy (in Java it was not the case for a lot of developpers )
extend System Java Classes is possible
less Complex Code and Compact Code thanks to Closures
with Grails you can develop Web application as “fast” as RoR and Php
Grails eases the Work with Hibernate and Spring, but let the possibility for experienced Developper to
overwrite the Default behavior

I think there are still some reasons, which can be a Problem for groovy future:

IDE Support is still not as good as the Java Developer used to( ex. Eclipse Plugin)
The Other Languages like Scala und JRuby are also Strong, and can pass Groovy easily in adoption
SpringSource is bought bei “VMWare” (SpringSource), so the Future of Groovy and Grails depends on the future plans of VMWare

Tips for Beginner with Grails

mbenhajla — Sun, 07 Feb 2010 13:44:12 +0000

I have been using Grails since the beginning of 2009.
When you beginn with a new Technology, it is very likely that you meet the same Problems as every Developer
I decided to put some simple TIPS for those, how are beginning to work with Grails.

Installation: don’t forget to set JAVA_HOME und GRAILS_HOME
IDE: Use Netbeans > 6.7 as IDE, the Eclipse Plugin for Grails is still not as good
PlugIn’s: Figure Out early which Plugins you will need for your Application.
Pay Attention that a lot of the Plugin’s are in Early Releases, or the Development is not active.
PlugIn’s: All installled Plugin’s are registered in the File Application.properties
Configuration: you can access the Application Configuration from your Programm using the grailsApplication.config Object
GSP: start using Templates for you UI from the beginning