This is my day for JVM languages i.e. languages that compile to the Java Virtual Machine. Clojure and Scala both fit that bill and have other features in common as well: immutable data, functional programming, first class functions.
I opted for this tutorial based on a lunch conversation at one of the i18n tables and showed up with nothing working or even installed. One of the minders got me up and running, getting stuff off a memory stick.
Turns out my version of Java was too old on the OST Mac Air. I'm grabbing jdk-7u65-macosx-x64.dmg. That worked.
Now I have a little web servlet going, controlled by the tutorial code.
Starting SBT for OSCON Scala tutorial
mackurner:scala-tutorial kurner$ ./sbt.sh
Starting SBT for OSCON Scala tutorial
[info] Loading project definition from /Users/kurner/Documents/scala-tutorial/project
[info] Set current project to Scala Tutorial (in build file:/Users/kurner/Documents/scala-tutorial/)
> console
[info] Generating /Users/kurner/Documents/scala-tutorial/target/scala-2.10/resource_managed/main/rebel.xml.
[info] Starting scala interpreter...
[info]
Welcome to Scala version 2.10.4 (Java HotSpot(TM) 64-Bit Server VM, Java 1.7.0_65).
Type in expressions to have them evaluated.
Type :help for more information.
scala> "Hello, Scala"
res0: String = Hello, Scala
scala> var started_programming: Map[String,Int] = Map("Kirby" -> 24, "Odd" -> 25)
started_programming: Map[String,Int] = Map(Kirby -> 24, Odd -> 25)
The language is not entirely unlike Java, statically typed, object oriented, but is more spare, more "expression-oriented" according to our presenter. Someone who knows Java might move to Scala next.
Like Python and Clojure, Scala has a REPL (shown above).
I'm sitting next to a man named Odd Are. I like that.
For those who know Python:
>>> list(filter(lambda i: i < 3, [1, 2, 3]))
is the same as
scala> List(1, 2, 3).filter(i => i < 3)
or even
scala> List(1,2,3).filter(_ < 3).
Both Python and Scala feature top-level functions, meaning you're free and encouraged to pass them as arguments on occasion. The methods map, reduce and filter give you a basis for functional programming.
Our presenters recommend easing into Scala by using it to write tests for Java code.
Recommended followup tutorial: The Neophytes Guide to Scala.
