I often use shell scripts to automate mundane, repeatable tasks on my computer. Since I’ve found Groovy, though, I have discovered a great way to make writing those scripts easier and more enjoyable. This is especially true if I have anything complex to do, and it saves me a LOT of time. Allow me to elaborate.

Getting started with command-line Groovy

Like many of the tools I advocate here, you’ll want to grab Cygwin for the best experience.

There are thorough instructions for getting Groovy running within the Groovy documentation. Basically you just download a ZIP, extract it where you want, and add a couple environment variables. Continue reading →