JVM Languages

The goal of this post is to show how a list of functions can be composed to create a single function, in the context of mapping a set of values using those functions. It’s a cute example that shows off some of the goodness that comes with functional programming in Scala. And, while this isn’t a tutorial, it might still ...

So, I made a post about agreeing with a post about Scala being “hard” for a large portion of Java developers. This post caused a fair amount of “discussion” much of which misinterpreted my post. I am making a post that I hope will be more clear in terms of the who, why, and my motivation. First, about me. My ...

Let me first say that I am a Scala lover and have been a Scala champion for almost 5 years. I’ve written books and articles on Scala. I’ve worked with dozens of companies that have launched Scala and Lift projects. I’ve code reviewed many dozens of Scala projects. I used to think that Scala was easy. It was, and continues ...

When learning a new language or framework one of my early questions is nowadays: What about testing? Obviously I asked that for Scala as well. If there is anything to complain about I guess it is once more the large number of options one has. JUnit Scala is highly compatible with Java and this includes the popular testing framework Junit. ...

Some people advocate their preferred language as the only way to enlightenment and productivity boosts way in the two digit percentage range compared to another language in the same category. I don’t believe it. (It’s probably true when you compare things like Java and Assembler, but few do that). There are others that tell you the language doesn’t matter at ...

Despite more complex and less intuitive syntax compared to Java, Scala actually drops several features of Java, sometimes for good, other times providing replacements on the standard library level. As you will see soon, Scala isn’t a superset of Java (like Groovy) and actually removes a lot of noise. Below is a catalogue of the missing features.       ...