Chapter 1. Why Scala?

This chapter covers

  • What Scala is
  • High-level features of the Scala language
  • Why you should pick Scala as your next language

Scala is a general-purpose programming language that runs on Java Virtual Machine (JVM) and .NET platforms. But the recent explosion of programming languages on JVM, .NET, and other platforms raises a question that every developer faces today: which programming language to learn next? Which languages are ready for mainstream development? Among the heap of programming languages like Groovy, Ruby, Clojure, Erlang, and F#, why should you learn Scala?

Learning a new language is merely a beginning. To become a useful and productive developer, you also need to be familiar with all the toggles and ...

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