Beginning Scala, Second Edition

Beginning Scala, Second Edition takes a down-to-earth approach to teaching Scala that leads you through simple examples that can be combined to build complex, scalable systems and applications.

This book introduces you to the Scala programming language, its object-oriented and functional programming characteristics, and then guides you through Scala constructs and libraries that allow you to assemble small components into high-performance, scalable systems. You will learn why Scala is judiciously used for critical business applications by leading companies such as Twitter, LinkedIn, Foursquare, the Guardian, Morgan Stanley, Credit Suisse, UBS, and HSBC.

Scala is a multi-paradigm programming language that combines both functional and object-oriented features. Moreover, this highly scalable language lends itself well to building cloud-based/deliverable Software as a Service (SaaS) online applications.

What you’ll learn

• Understand the basic syntax and mechanisms for writing Scala programs
• Learn the object-oriented features of Scala
• Use Scala's functional programming features to define and manage concurrency
• Build parsers using Scala’s library of parser combinators
• Create and manipulate XML content using Scala
• Take advantage of Scala's standard annotations and even create your own
• Integrate and reuse an existing Java codebase
• Build projects that contain both Scala and Java code and dependencies
• Use Scala libraries and Scala web frameworks such as Play 2 to build web applications with Scala

Who this book is for

This book is for all programming enthusiasts and for Java developers looking to reduce boilerplate code, improve team performance, improve inter-team dynamics, and build more scalable and robust systems. Also, this book will appeal to Java developers looking to do cloud-based development. Lastly, Ruby, Python, Groovy and other programmers looking for a higher performance and a more robust language will benefit.

About the Authors

Vishal Layka is the chief technology officer of Star Protocol. He is involved in the architecture, design, and implementation of distributed business systems, and his focus is on consulting and training with the JVM languages. His language proficiencies include Java, Groovy, Scala, and Haskell. Vishal is also the lead author of Beginning Groovy, Grails, and Griffon (Apress, 2012). When he needs a break from technology, Vishal reads eclectically from calculus to star formation.

David Pollak has been writing commercial software since 1977. He wrote the award-winning Mesa spreadsheet, which in 1992 was the first real-time spreadsheet. Wall Street companies traded billions of dollars a day through Mesa. In 1996, David sold his company to CMP Media and became CTO of CMP Media's NetGuide Live and was one of the first large-scale users of Java and WebLogic to power an Internet site. In 1998, David released Integer, the world's first browser-accessible, multiuser spreadsheet. Since 2000, David has been consulting for companies including Hewlett-Packard, Pretzel Logic/WebGain, BankServ, Twitter, and SAP. David has been using Scala since 2006 and is the lead developer of the Lift Web framework.