The grails-app directory is there to force a division between domain | views | services | assets. It can contain non-source files, and thus it wouldn't make sense to have it under src ever. We need a way to distinguish this, and putting it under resource wouldn't make sense since the files are often the source of generated code, not the resource itself.
Given the history of grails, I too would not want to change grails-app's name since it's clear that project is now a grails application, there's a history of using it to distinguish the aforementioned assets, every plugin would need to change for this, and all existing training material would need to be updated. We have previously talked about how one of our largest struggles is the current marketing of Grails and how we need to push forward in this area. Renaming grails-app would go counter to that and cause confusion, so I'm not for this. -James On Fri, Apr 18, 2025 at 10:54 AM James Fredley <jamesfred...@apache.org> wrote: > I have never thought much about the grails-app directory name and do not > think it should change since it does a good job describing the contents. > > We should review our documentation around the directory structure, for a > Grails application, to ensure it clearly details the structure and purpose > for each main directory for Grails 7. > > On 2025/04/18 09:01:22 Gianluca Sartori wrote: > > I've been thinking about this forever... > > > > We have the `grails-app` folder containing the conventions over > > configuration project structure that is a Grails standard, a different > one > > from the `src` folder structure. > > > > The fact it contains `grails` in its name can be useful to immediately > > recognise the type of the project by giving a quick look at the directory > > tree. But to my eyes that is all it does. > > > > I think today I finally found the braveness and recklessness to propose > we > > change it to a more "domain specific" or "technical" name instead of > having > > the name of the product in it. > > > > The meaning of that folder should be given by its role in the context > > rather than a marketing/communication purpose. > > > > So I am proposing we change the `grails-app` to `webapp` to indicate it > > contains the web part of the application. > > > > Pros: > > - Removes the name of the product from a technical folder > > - Gives it a meaning that is immediately intelligible from a developer > > point of view (more people know what a `webapp` is that a `grails-app`, > no > > need to explain further) > > - It is a good time to make this change since the move to Apache is a big > > change/event > > > > Cons: > > - Breaking change when porting applications from older Grails versions > > (must be documented but it's an easy fix) > > > > Bomb dropped, what is the community opinion? > > > > Cheers, > > Gianluca Sartori > > >
