It’s just you. “Groovy” is a great name for a language.

What you are saying makes sense. Normal business people are more comfortable with Java than Perl (which most have not even heard of). Also I am realizing that one can have different versions of JVM w/o affecting each other.

I got tired of dealing with Perl modules very fast. Also the API support, JDBC and everything points to using Talend/Java rather than Talend/Perl.

I’ve looked into Groovy. As you suggest due to similarity with Java, it might be a good place to start.

Thanks again for a great blog post.

It was only when the Java version of Talend appeared that I started to look seriously at Talend; although Perl has its advantages, within most corporate environments, Java is an easier sell (at least to “civilians”).

JVM issues are less of a problem now than multi-megabyte downloads/installs are common place (i.e. package your jars in an EXE, along with either the JVM you require or a facility to download the version required (using tools such as http://jsmooth.sourceforge.net/ )).

The Java world is a rich source of corporate-focused APIs, JDBC is mature and robust, so even without Groovy, I would still be sticking with the Java version. Groovy just makes it better and means practically everything I need can be provided by the one environment.

If you are about to learn Java, then Groovy is a ideal way to start, in fact for the sort of activities you’re likely to engage in with a tool like Talend, you may never need to write “real” Java.

Tom

Advantages of using Talend/Perl:
1. Could deploy Perl code as an exe on Windows machines without needing to upgrade JVM client (this was a restriction based on corporate policy).
2. Have a ready scripting language.
3. Plentiful modules are available for Perl in Talend and outside.

Disadvantages of Talend/Perl
1. Exe works only on Windows. For Linux, I am not sure I can create an executable that combines all the modules.
2. Keeping together all the modules for DB connections etc. is a pain.
3. No JDBC connection and a lot of DB connections will require one to have a client installed (like DB2). I think this is a big downside.

I chose Perl due to JVM upgrade issues on my first project as well with familiarity with Perl. But more I look, I feel that I need to learn Java and start using the Java version. If JVM version is not an issue, I think Java probably has all the advantages and non of the disadvantages (now that one can use Groovy).

I might have misstated some of the above. Anyway, what is your opinion on Talend Java vs. Talend Perl as you seem to be comfortable with both the version.

Thanks for pointing that out, it is misleading. I must admit I (like most folks I guess) wouldn’t know one end of a JSR process from the other!

Tom