FAQ

Why is the name of this software GroovyServ?

It’s inspired by Gnuserv for Emacs. A concept and an architecture of GroovyServ are very similar with it.

What environments are supported?

Linux, Windows and Mac OS X are supported, so far. GroovyServ can use on the environment which supports Java SDK, JNA and Go compiler.

Why does GroovyServ use JNA (Java Native Access)?

Because it’s to change a current working directory (CWD) dynamically for each a request. To be more specific, it’s to call chdir(2) system call or _chdir win32 C runtime function. You might think user.dir system property can be used for same purpose, as a pure Java way. But it’s not enough because JRE isn’t used the user.dir for all of Java APIs. JRE still uses a native CWD of a JVM process. For example, new FileInputStream(".") is used not user.dir system property but a CWD.

Why are user commands written in Go, not in Java or Groovy?

The purpose of GroovyServ is to reduce a startup time of a JVM process. So, you can never use Java to implement especially a groovyclient. Go programming language can cross-compile binaries for many environments on everywhere. It’s a very powerful and useful feature for a multi-platform tool like GroovyServ.

Does GroovyServ for Windows require Cygwin?

No, it doesn’t. Since 1.0, we rewrote user commands by Go language. So now, GroovyServ are pefectly free from Cygwin.

Can I use GroovyServ with Grape’s @Grab annotation?

Yes, you can. But you might see OutOfMemoryError of PermGen if you use transitive dependencies and run the script repeatedly. It probably comes from a way to resolve a transitive dependency. It seems different to resolve a direct dependency in Groovy. You can use a SystemClassLoader parameter as a workaround:

@GrabConfig(systemClassLoader=true)
@Grab("...")

What is different GroovyServ from NailGun?

The purpose of NailGun is same as GroovyServ’s. Besides, the architectures are very similar, too. NailGun is a great product which is older than GroovyServ. However, GroovyServ has some advantage, so far.

• Both
  • Reduces startup time of the JVM
  • Supports standard I/O streams via TCP/IP
  • Detoxicates System#exit()
• Only GroovyServ
  • Supports access control
  • Supports propagation of CLASSPATH
  • Supports propagation of environment variables
  • Returns exit code
  • Supports dynamic CWD
    • In NailGun, CWD is fixed at initial directory when a server process is started.
  • Supports interruption by CTRL-C
• Only NailGun
  • Implemented by pure Java
    • So you can use for bulit-in, like JRuby.

IMO, NailGun is useful to implement a built-in system for something. On the other hand, GroovyServ is handy in case of running a script from console or other tools like a text editor.

What is different GroovyServ from Drip?

The purpose of Drip is same as GroovyServ’s. However, Drip has a very characteristic strategy: Drip starts up new process for each a combination of same arguments of JVM, classpath, a main class and CWD. And it reuses the process in a certain period. The process is automatically shut down after the period.

This approach brings quite simple architecture and implementation. It’s so great and interesting. But, Drip requires a bash command so far. So, inevitably you can’t use it without a bash command. IMO, Drip is handy to run a same script with same arguments repeatedly multiple times in UN*X-like OS.

Is GroovyServ dedicated for Groovy?

No. you can use GroovyServ for other JVM languages. For example, you can run a Clojure script like this:

$ CLASSPATH=/tmp/clojure.jar groovyserver
$ groovyclient -e 'import clojure.main;main.main(args)' -- -e "(println 'Clojure)"
Clojure

Ctrl-C doesn’t work in some cases. Why?

Is your script interruptable? If not, GroovyServ can’t stop it unfortunately. See User Guide.