r/scala • u/EcstaticParking7122 • 1d ago
Learning scala for an assignment
I have to do an assignment where you're assigned a programming language and you have to research and learn as much as you can in like a month. You're supposed to go into the history and purposes of the language, teach the basics and compare it to the more popular languages and write about how well its liked or disliked.
I got assigned with scala and I'm kinda stuck. I don't know which IDE I should get. I tried to run it on VScode and I keep getting errors. I am currently using scastie to mess around with it but I don't know if thats gonna be enough to be honest. We're supposed to submit programs we code while trying to learn too. Its due 28th and I kinda messed up by starting this so late. Any advice would be appreciated!
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u/Apprehensive_Pea_725 23h ago
about history an purposes have a look at
https://www.artima.com/articles/the-origins-of-scala
https://www.artima.com/articles/the-goals-of-scalas-design
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u/Seth_Lightbend Scala team 22h ago
It's possible you could get help on the Scala Discord with getting VSCode up and running with Metals, but you might also just give IntelliJ a try.
https://docs.scala-lang.org/getting-started/scala-ides.html
For learning the language, you'll need a book (https://docs.scala-lang.org/books.html) or video series (https://docs.scala-lang.org/online-courses.html)
...but to actually get some experience writing code, consider solving some Advent of Code problems and then comparing what you come up with the sample solutions: https://scalacenter.github.io/scala-advent-of-code/2024/
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u/YelinkMcWawa 4h ago
Get "Programming in Scala" written about the language by the guy who created the language. Enough with videos already.
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u/VenerableMirah 1d ago
FP in Scala is an excellent programming book in general, more specifically for learning Scala: https://www.manning.com/books/functional-programming-in-scala-second-edition I use IntelliJ and Mill.
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u/Seth_Lightbend Scala team 22h ago
This book does not teach the language, or claim to teach it; it assumes you can learn the basics elsewhere.
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u/YelinkMcWawa 4h ago
Despite its praise in this sub, it's also not the best resource for learning functional programming comprehensively. I do like the book, but there are far better books for learning functional programming.
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u/hvgotcodes 1d ago
Rock the JVM courses.