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  1. Stackups
  2. Application & Data
  3. Languages
  4. Languages
  5. CoffeeScript vs Groovy

CoffeeScript vs Groovy

OverviewComparisonAlternatives

Overview

Groovy
Groovy
Stacks7.0K
Followers780
Votes212
GitHub Stars5.4K
Forks1.9K
CoffeeScript
CoffeeScript
Stacks3.7K
Followers1.2K
Votes1.0K
GitHub Stars16.6K
Forks2.0K

CoffeeScript vs Groovy: What are the differences?

Developers describe CoffeeScript as "Unfancy JavaScript". CoffeeScript is a little language that compiles into JavaScript. Underneath that awkward Java-esque patina, JavaScript has always had a gorgeous heart. CoffeeScript is an attempt to expose the good parts of JavaScript in a simple way. On the other hand, Groovy is detailed as "A dynamic language for the Java platform". Groovy builds upon the strengths of Java but has additional power features inspired by languages like Python, Ruby and Smalltalk. It makes modern programming features available to Java developers with almost-zero learning curve.

CoffeeScript and Groovy belong to "Languages" category of the tech stack.

"Easy to read" is the primary reason why developers consider CoffeeScript over the competitors, whereas "Java platform" was stated as the key factor in picking Groovy.

CoffeeScript and Groovy are both open source tools. CoffeeScript with 15.2K GitHub stars and 1.99K forks on GitHub appears to be more popular than Groovy with 1.49K GitHub stars and 414 GitHub forks.

Code School, Zaarly, and thoughtbot are some of the popular companies that use CoffeeScript, whereas Groovy is used by Starbucks, Cask, and PedidosYa. CoffeeScript has a broader approval, being mentioned in 364 company stacks & 169 developers stacks; compared to Groovy, which is listed in 78 company stacks and 73 developer stacks.

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Detailed Comparison

Groovy
Groovy
CoffeeScript
CoffeeScript

It is a powerful multi-faceted programming language for the JVM platform. It supports a spectrum of programming styles incorporating features from dynamic languages such as optional and duck typing, but also static compilation and static type checking at levels similar to or greater than Java through its extensible static type checker. It aims to greatly increase developer productivity with many powerful features but also a concise, familiar and easy to learn syntax.

It adds syntactic sugar inspired by Ruby, Python and Haskell in an effort to enhance JavaScript's brevity and readability. Specific additional features include list comprehension and de-structuring assignment.

Flat learning curve; Powerful features; Smooth Java integration; Domain-Specific Languages; Vibrant and rich ecosystem; Scripting and testing glue
String Interpolation; Statement Modifiers; Callback Handling; Comprehensions; The Fat Arrow; Scoping; Clean JavaScript Output.
Statistics
GitHub Stars
5.4K
GitHub Stars
16.6K
GitHub Forks
1.9K
GitHub Forks
2.0K
Stacks
7.0K
Stacks
3.7K
Followers
780
Followers
1.2K
Votes
212
Votes
1.0K
Pros & Cons
Pros
  • 44
    Java platform
  • 33
    Much more productive than java
  • 29
    Concise and readable
  • 28
    Very little code needed for complex tasks
  • 22
    Dynamic language
Cons
  • 3
    Groovy Code can be slower than Java Code
  • 1
    Absurd syntax
  • 1
    Objects cause stateful/heap mess
Pros
  • 199
    Easy to read
  • 179
    Faster to write
  • 126
    Syntactic sugar
  • 104
    Elegant
  • 104
    Readable
Cons
  • 3
    No ES6
  • 1
    Parentheses required in 0-ary function calls
  • 1
    Corner cases in syntax
  • 1
    Unclear what will be grouped to {…}
Integrations
Java
Java
No integrations available

What are some alternatives to Groovy, CoffeeScript?

JavaScript

JavaScript

JavaScript is most known as the scripting language for Web pages, but used in many non-browser environments as well such as node.js or Apache CouchDB. It is a prototype-based, multi-paradigm scripting language that is dynamic,and supports object-oriented, imperative, and functional programming styles.

Python

Python

Python is a general purpose programming language created by Guido Van Rossum. Python is most praised for its elegant syntax and readable code, if you are just beginning your programming career python suits you best.

PHP

PHP

Fast, flexible and pragmatic, PHP powers everything from your blog to the most popular websites in the world.

Ruby

Ruby

Ruby is a language of careful balance. Its creator, Yukihiro “Matz” Matsumoto, blended parts of his favorite languages (Perl, Smalltalk, Eiffel, Ada, and Lisp) to form a new language that balanced functional programming with imperative programming.

Java

Java

Java is a programming language and computing platform first released by Sun Microsystems in 1995. There are lots of applications and websites that will not work unless you have Java installed, and more are created every day. Java is fast, secure, and reliable. From laptops to datacenters, game consoles to scientific supercomputers, cell phones to the Internet, Java is everywhere!

Golang

Golang

Go is expressive, concise, clean, and efficient. Its concurrency mechanisms make it easy to write programs that get the most out of multicore and networked machines, while its novel type system enables flexible and modular program construction. Go compiles quickly to machine code yet has the convenience of garbage collection and the power of run-time reflection. It's a fast, statically typed, compiled language that feels like a dynamically typed, interpreted language.

HTML5

HTML5

HTML5 is a core technology markup language of the Internet used for structuring and presenting content for the World Wide Web. As of October 2014 this is the final and complete fifth revision of the HTML standard of the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C). The previous version, HTML 4, was standardised in 1997.

C#

C#

C# (pronounced "See Sharp") is a simple, modern, object-oriented, and type-safe programming language. C# has its roots in the C family of languages and will be immediately familiar to C, C++, Java, and JavaScript programmers.

Scala

Scala

Scala is an acronym for “Scalable Language”. This means that Scala grows with you. You can play with it by typing one-line expressions and observing the results. But you can also rely on it for large mission critical systems, as many companies, including Twitter, LinkedIn, or Intel do. To some, Scala feels like a scripting language. Its syntax is concise and low ceremony; its types get out of the way because the compiler can infer them.

Elixir

Elixir

Elixir leverages the Erlang VM, known for running low-latency, distributed and fault-tolerant systems, while also being successfully used in web development and the embedded software domain.

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