Groovy - Basic

This exam covers basic Groovy skills, typically encountered early by those learning Groovy.
The main objective for this exam is to ensure good knowledge of Groovy syntax, know how it differs from Java, and be able to create simple Groovy programs but not yet delving into the very dynamic nature of Groovy, which is reserved for the Groovy - Intermediate exam.

Scope
Groovy is a dynamic language that for the Java Virtual Machine. It builds upon the strengths of Java and adds powerful features inspired by the likes of Ruby, Python, and SmallTalk.
This exam focuses on all of the simple enhancements that Groovy adds to Java which anyone who uses Groovy will need to use.
For purposes of the exam, we will focus on compatibility with Groovy 1.5.6

Language
While the questions may contain Groovy snippets, they cannot contain any tricks. Java/Groovy intricacies are not covered here either, but it is assumed that the exam taker has the knowledge required to pass the Java SE - Basic exam.

Prerequisites

Basic Java knowledge such as:
- Java Objects, methods, and classes
- Java variables, types and operators
- Java scopes and lifecycles
- Java control structures
- Basic Java collections knowledge (how to write and iterate over maps, for example)
- Simple regular expressions knowledge

References Below is a list of books and web resources that will really help one study for the Groovy exams.

Groovy Recipes by Scott Davis.
Programming Groovy by Venkat Subramaniam
Groovy in Action by Dierk Konig, Andrew Glover, Paul King, Guillaume Laforge, and Jon Skeet
The Groovy Getting Started Guide
The Groovy Series
Code Snippets
An on-line console

Not covered Please keep the level of this exam basic. What is not in the objectives below is not in the exam. For example, these topics are not covered in this exam:

Meta-programming
Groovy Builders
Mix-ins
Groovy I/O
Domain specific languages (DSLs)
GPath
Non-simple closures
Method pointers

	Released	Beta	Frozen
Running Groovy 3 questions Demonstrate knowledge of how Groovy scripts are compiled Understand how to use the groovy console Understand what groovysh is and how to use it	17	3	8	Add a question Beta questions
Fundamental Groovy 5 questions Understand the Groovy lifecycle using different methods of executing Groovy (e.g. compiled Groovy vs. Groovy scripts) Understand the basic syntactic differences between Java and Groovy (e.g. semicolons are not required) Know that everything (including primitives) is an object in Groovy Identify the differences between Java autoboxing and Groovy autoboxing (such as Groovy's boxing to BigDecimal)	60	11	8	Add a question Beta questions
Groovy Datatypes 5 questions Know how and when to use optional typing and its advantages/disadvantages Understand GStrings and produce code that uses them Write Groovy code using new syntax for: ranges, lists, maps and regex	77	2	8	Add a question Beta questions
Groovy Control Structures 4 questions Write code using Groovy truthiness Understand and write code using new Groovy looping syntax (e.g. each) Not Covered : Usage of Closures outside each loop	36	4	8	Add a question Beta questions
Groovy Beans 3 questions Demonstrate knowledge of what a Groovy Bean is, and that this feature is always available in Groovy Write and understand code using Groovy Beans	20	5	2	Add a question Beta questions