From:     Mark Johnson
Subject:  NEJUG Meeting Topic Update: October 14th 6pm -
                  Groovy Closures - The hip way to cleaner more reusable code
Date:     Thursday, October 09, 2008 6:18:54 PM

Over the last couple of months I have received many requests from our fellow members
requesting more information on Groovy and why they should consider it for their next project.
Based on these requests and the cancellation of our scheduled speaker,
the TUESDAY, OCTOBER 14th meeting will cover "Groovy Closures - The hip way to
cleaner more reusable code".  The meeting is still scheduled at The MathWorks.
As always the doors will open at 5pm for networking, pizza should arrive around 5:30pm,
and the presentation will take place at 6pm.

If you had already registered for the original meeting, please take a moment to Register
now to reserve your seat.

If you are currently interested in why dynamic languages such as Groovy are receiving so
much press and possibly even conisdering Groovy at work in some capacity, I would love to
see you at our NEJUG meeting.

Presentation Overview:

Factory patterns and callbacks have been around for a long time as a technique available to
implement flavor specific code variations. Closures may seem like yet another way to
crack an egg, but factories and callbacks can be awkward and hard to update. Enter Groovy Closures
as an easier alternative! Imagine the ability to inject different coding flavors using code closures.
If you need a different flavor, then just pass a different code block! Now imagine all of this
works within the JVM and best of all you can leverage your existing Java knowledge and assets!

This discussion will use hands on examples exploring the following:

How to use closures already available in Groovy
How to setup your code to consume closures
A sampling of design patterns implemented using Groovy Closures

Finally, we will discuss non-functional considerations such as security and performance when
deciding whether to use closures in your next project.


About our speaker:


Mark Johnson is currently Director of Consulting at CGI where he is exploring software
development management approaches to leverage offshore and local development resources
to deliver high quality applications on-time and budget in a highly competitive environment.

Mark Johnson has over 20 years of software development experience in industries including
Healthcare, state government, and strategic sourcing.  During his career, Mark has worked
on all types of projects from small to very large projects.  Currently, Mark focuses on
software architectural and management approaches to enable project delivery on time and
to the customer's satisifaction.  In addition, Mark is active in the software community
as the President of the New England Java Users Group.  When not working, Mark can be
found riding his mountain bike on local trails and playing with his family.


Mark Johnson
President, NEJUG
email:mark.f.johnson@cgi.com