A new project

For a while now I've been involved with 3D printing.  I started this hobby 2 years ago, and since then I've learned about micro-controllers, stepper motors, different types of lead screws, timing belts, bearings, and power supplies.  Now I'm curious about what it takes to generate the toolpaths and gcode that powers my printers, so I'm planning to write my own model slicer and gcode generator.
My goals for this project are:

1. The software should generate gcode that when printed, yields a high quality object.
2. The software should be easy to understand.
3. The software should be fast.
4. The software should be portable.

I plan to document as much of the development process as possible, so that hopefully everyone can learn from my mistakes.  The language will be Groovy since it is portable via the JVM and has lots of nice features.