diff --git a/icons/groovy.png b/icons/groovy.png
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..e5e69fb1c
Binary files /dev/null and b/icons/groovy.png differ
diff --git a/languages.ts b/languages.ts
index bd98d253f..530ee1aa5 100644
--- a/languages.ts
+++ b/languages.ts
@@ -594,4 +594,12 @@ export const languageSpecs: LanguageSpec[] = [
         },
         stylized: 'GraphQL',
     },
+    {
+        handlerArgs: {
+            languageID: 'groovy',
+            fileExts: ['groovy'],
+            commentStyle: cStyle,
+        },
+        stylized: 'Groovy',
+    },
 ]
diff --git a/samples/groovy.groovy b/samples/groovy.groovy
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..838626bab
--- /dev/null
+++ b/samples/groovy.groovy
@@ -0,0 +1,230 @@
+/*
+ * Copyright 2013-2019, Centre for Genomic Regulation (CRG)
+ *
+ * Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License");
+ * you may not use this file except in compliance with the License.
+ * You may obtain a copy of the License at
+ *
+ *     http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
+ *
+ * Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software
+ * distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS,
+ * WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied.
+ * See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
+ * limitations under the License.
+ */
+
+package nextflow.script
+
+import java.nio.file.Path
+import java.util.regex.Pattern
+
+import com.google.common.hash.Hashing
+import groovy.transform.CompileStatic
+import nextflow.Channel
+import nextflow.Nextflow
+import nextflow.NextflowMeta
+import nextflow.Session
+import nextflow.ast.OpXform
+import nextflow.ast.NextflowDSL
+import nextflow.ast.NextflowXform
+import nextflow.exception.ScriptCompilationException
+import nextflow.extension.FilesEx
+import nextflow.file.FileHelper
+import nextflow.util.Duration
+import nextflow.util.MemoryUnit
+import org.apache.commons.lang.StringUtils
+import org.codehaus.groovy.control.CompilationFailedException
+import org.codehaus.groovy.control.CompilerConfiguration
+import org.codehaus.groovy.control.customizers.ASTTransformationCustomizer
+import org.codehaus.groovy.control.customizers.ImportCustomizer
+/**
+ * Parse a nextflow script class applied the required AST transformations
+ *
+ * @author Paolo Di Tommaso <paolo.ditommaso@gmail.com>
+ */
+@CompileStatic
+class ScriptParser {
+
+    private static final Pattern DSL2_DECLARATION = ~/(?m)^\s*(nextflow\.(?:preview|enable)\.dsl\s*=\s*2)\s*;?\s*$/
+
+    private ClassLoader classLoader
+
+    private Session session
+
+    private boolean module
+
+    private Path scriptPath
+
+    private BaseScript script
+
+    private Object result
+
+    private ScriptBinding binding
+
+    private CompilerConfiguration config
+
+    private String entryName
+
+    ScriptParser(Session session) {
+        this.session = session
+        this.classLoader = session.getClassLoader()
+    }
+
+    ScriptParser(ClassLoader loader) {
+        this.classLoader = loader
+    }
+
+    ScriptParser setSession( Session session ) {
+        this.session = session
+        this.classLoader = session.classLoader
+        return this
+    }
+
+    ScriptParser setModule(boolean value) {
+        this.module = value
+        return this
+    }
+
+    ScriptParser setEntryName(String name) {
+        this.entryName = name
+        return this
+    }
+
+    ScriptParser setBinding(ScriptBinding binding) {
+        this.binding = binding
+        return this
+    }
+
+    protected ClassLoader getClassLoader() { classLoader }
+
+    protected Session getSession() { session }
+
+    ScriptBinding getBinding() { binding }
+
+    Object getResult() { result }
+
+    BaseScript getScript() { script }
+
+    CompilerConfiguration getConfig() {
+        if( config )
+            return config
+
+        // define the imports
+        def importCustomizer = new ImportCustomizer()
+        importCustomizer.addImports( StringUtils.name, groovy.transform.Field.name )
+        importCustomizer.addImports( Path.name )
+        importCustomizer.addImports( Channel.name )
+        importCustomizer.addImports( Duration.name )
+        importCustomizer.addImports( MemoryUnit.name )
+        importCustomizer.addStaticStars( Nextflow.name )
+
+        config = new CompilerConfiguration()
+        config.addCompilationCustomizers( importCustomizer )
+        config.scriptBaseClass = BaseScript.class.name
+        config.addCompilationCustomizers( new ASTTransformationCustomizer(NextflowDSL))
+        config.addCompilationCustomizers( new ASTTransformationCustomizer(NextflowXform))
+        config.addCompilationCustomizers( new ASTTransformationCustomizer(OpXform))
+
+        if( session && session.classesDir )
+            config.setTargetDirectory(session.classesDir.toFile())
+
+        return config
+    }
+
+    protected boolean isDsl2(String script) {
+        script.find(DSL2_DECLARATION) != null
+    }
+
+    /**
+     * Creates a unique name for the main script class in order to avoid collision
+     * with the implicit and user variables
+     */
+    protected String computeClassName(script) {
+        final PREFIX = 'Script_'
+
+        if( script instanceof Path ) {
+            return FileHelper.getIdentifier(script,PREFIX)
+        }
+
+        if( script instanceof CharSequence ) {
+            final hash = Hashing
+                    .murmur3_32()
+                    .newHasher()
+                    .putUnencodedChars(script.toString())
+                    .hash()
+            return PREFIX + hash.toString()
+        }
+
+        throw new IllegalArgumentException("Unknown script type: ${script?.getClass()?.getName()}")
+    }
+
+    GroovyShell getInterpreter() {
+        if( !binding && session )
+            binding = session.binding
+        if( !binding )
+            throw new IllegalArgumentException("Missing Script binding object")
+
+        return new GroovyShell(classLoader, binding, getConfig())
+    }
+
+    ScriptParser parse(String scriptText, GroovyShell interpreter) {
+        final String clazzName = computeClassName(scriptText)
+        try {
+            script = (BaseScript)interpreter.parse(scriptText, clazzName)
+            final meta = ScriptMeta.get(script)
+            meta.setScriptPath(scriptPath)
+            meta.setModule(module)
+            if( isDsl2(scriptText) )
+                NextflowMeta.instance.enableDsl2()
+            return this
+        }
+        catch (CompilationFailedException e) {
+            String type = module ? "Module" : "Script"
+            String header = "$type compilation error\n- file : ${FilesEx.toUriString(scriptPath)}"
+            String msg = e.message ?: header
+            msg = msg.replaceAll(/startup failed:\n/,'')
+            msg = msg.replaceAll(~/$clazzName(: \d+:\b*)?/, header+'\n- cause:')
+            throw new ScriptCompilationException(msg, e)
+        }
+    }
+
+
+    ScriptParser parse(String scriptText) {
+        def interpreter = getInterpreter()
+        return parse(scriptText, interpreter)
+    }
+
+    ScriptParser parse(Path scriptPath) {
+        this.scriptPath = scriptPath
+        parse(scriptPath.text)
+    }
+
+    ScriptParser runScript(Path scriptPath) {
+        this.scriptPath = scriptPath
+        runScript(scriptPath.text)
+        return this
+    }
+
+    ScriptParser runScript(String scriptText) {
+        parse(scriptText)
+        runScript()
+        return this
+    }
+
+    private void setupContext() {
+        assert session
+        binding.setSession(session)
+        binding.setModule(module)
+        binding.setScriptPath(scriptPath)
+        binding.setEntryName(entryName)
+    }
+
+    ScriptParser runScript() {
+        assert script
+        setupContext()
+        result = script.run()
+        return this
+    }
+
+}