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NFJS2025

Groovy and Grails for Fun and Profit

Groovy is a dynamic Java dialect that makes programming on the JVM fun again. Couple that with Grails, the agile full-stack MVC web framework built on Grails and other best-of-breed technologies, and you have the potential to deliver huge amounts of value to your customers (and make a nice profit along the way!) This presentation will take a brief tour of both of these technologies and then hop off of the trail to go exploring wherever your interests lie!

The Groovy trail:

  • Syntactic sugar
  • Dynamic (Duck) Typing
  • Closures
  • Metaprogramming

The Grails trail:

  • Stack overview
  • Scaffolding quick start
  • Domain classes/GORM
  • Controllers
  • Groovy Server Pages (GSP)
  • Tag Libraries
  • Other miscellaneous features

Matt Stine

About Matt Stine

My passion is taking a metaphysical approach to software engineering: what is the nature of the collaborative game that we continuously play, and are there better, more contextually-aware ways to play that game?

By day I lead a team tasked with taking a first-principles-centric approach to intentionally enabling programming language usage at the largest bank in the United States.

By night I write and teach my way through a masterclass in software engineering and architecture targeting early-career software engineers working in large-scale enterprise technology organizations.

What is the primary goal?

To win the game. More seriously: to get 1% better every day at providing business value through software.

Who am I?

I'm a 22-year veteran of the enterprise software industry. I've played almost every role I can imagine:

  • Software Engineer
  • Software Architect
  • Technical Lead
  • Engineering Manager
  • Consultant
  • Product Manager
  • Field CTO
  • Developer Advocate
  • Conference Speaker
  • Author
  • Technical Trainer
  • Technical Marketer
  • Site Reliability Engineer
  • Desktop Support Specialist

I've worked at Fortune 500 companies, a tenacious teal cloud startup, and a not-for-profit children's hospital. I've written a book, and I've hosted a podcast. I've learned a lot along the way, including many things I wish I'd known when I first got started. And so now I want to pass those learnings on to you, especially if you've only just begun your career.

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