We have half a dozen Grails applications in production now, and while Grails is different from java frameworks and requires some learning time, it has paid off because we have used Agile techniques. Details:
- We use IntelliJ. It's not very expensive and is has paid back in a few weeks for us.
- Automated testing, Continuous Integration and refactoring are a must, as for for all dynamic language code. If you already practice TDD or at least have a decent test code coverage, then it doesn't add any extra work.
- Hibernate comes by default with Grails, but you can use other persistence frameworks. There are 5 persistence plugins other available today
- Logging was clearly not a concern in Graeme Rochers' mind, but it has steadily improved. I haven't faced an issue where an error was not logged, though (you have to make sure you catch exceptions correctly in your code)
- Debugging was clearly not on the radar (but this has not improved). We don't rely on debugging anyway.
This said, as with all new technologies, I recommend making prototypes, code reviews, pair programming, and maybe use some consulting as well.
