Intro to Scala Fundamentals

This is a two day course. You are expected to know how to program in at least one programming language (Java, Ruby, JavaScript, etc.). The course teaches the fundamentals of using Scala as a functional programming language.

This course is meant to be run in person. There are comments in the exercises to try and point you in the right direction so you should be able to do this in your spare time if you desire. Unit tests are included to verify your solutions for each exercise.

Use ./auto/sbt test to run the tests. The first time you run the tests, they will all fail. This is a good thing! As you complete each exercise correctly, the tests will pass.

We welcome pull requests and feedback!

Schedule

Day 1

Time	Topic/Exercise
09.00	Start
09.15	Intro to FP/Scala
10.00	IntroExercises
10.45	Morning break
11.00	Intro to ADTs
11.15	TypesExercises
12.15	Lunch
13.30	ListExercises
15.15	Afternoon break
15.30	NullExercises
16.00	OptionExercises pt. 1 (Safe constructors)
16.30	OptionExercises pt. 2 (first half)
17.00	End

Day 2

Time	Topic/Exercise
09.15	Intro to Error Handling
10.00	OptionExercises pt. 2 (second half)
10.30	Morning break
10.45	OptionExercises pt. 3
11.30	ExceptionExercises
12.15	Lunch
13.15	Exceptions2EitherExercises
14.30	TryExercises
15.00	Afternoon break
15.30	LogParser
16.45	Wrap up
17.00	End

Pre-requisites

At a minimum, you need:

• This repository
• Java 17 installed (even if you have a newer version)
• Docker
• Text editor (IntelliJ is recommended)

1. Fork or clone this repository

$ git clone https://github.com/wjlow/intro-to-scala.git
$ cd intro-to-scala/

2. Install Java 17 (even if you already have a later version pre-installed)

Test if you have Java 17 already with java -version.

macOS (using Homebrew)

Run the following two commands:

brew install openjdk@17

3. Install Docker

macOS

Use Docker for Mac

4. Run SBT through Docker

To run the sbt shell using Docker:

$ ./auto/sbt

Tip: Launching SBT might take some time, so we recommend using SBT's interactive shell to run commands, instead of lauching SBT for each command.

5. Compile program to resolve dependencies before the course

6. IDE setup

Compilation

Launch the SBT shell.

To only compile production code use:

sbt> compile

To compile production and test code use:

sbt> test:compile

How to run tests

To run all tests

To run all tests use:

sbt> test

The first time you run all the tests you will get a lot of errors! These tests will be fixed by you during the duration of the course.

Running a single test file

In the meantime, run only a single test case at a time to keep things manageable.

To run a single test, use:

sbt> ~testOnly package.path.of.test.TestName

For example, to run only the introcourse.level01.IntroExercisesTest test case, use:

sbt> ~testOnly introcourse.level01.IntroExercisesTest

To run by test case name only, use:

sbt> ~testOnly *TestName

For example, to run the introcourse.level01.IntroExercisesTest test case, use:

sbt> ~testOnly *IntroExercisesTest

The ~ watches for changes to your files and runs the command automatically. It's nice to use it to get really fast feedback as you are working on the exercises!

To stop watching changes through ~, press Enter to return to the SBT shell prompt.

Jumping into a Scala REPL

To launch into a Scala REPL with all production code use:

sbt> console

Once in the console, you can import your production code as such:

import package.objectname.*

For example, to use functions defined in introcourse.level01.IntroExercises:

scala> import introcourse.level01.IntroExercises.*
scala> add(1, 2)
res0: Int = 3

To launch into a Scala REPL with all production and test code use:

sbt> test:console

Type :q to exit from the REPL and return to SBT.

Exiting SBT

To exit the SBT shell use:

sbt> exit

IDE setup

IntelliJ IDEA (recommended)

1. Download IntelliJ (free Community edition is fine)

2. Install and open IntelliJ

3. If running IntelliJ for the very first time, it might ask you what "featured" plugin you want to install. Select Install for Scala, otherwise install manually: Configure -> Plugins -> Browse Repositories -> Scala

4. Restart IntelliJ to activate the plugin

5. Open IntelliJ and open this project: Open -> Select directory where project is in

6. IntelliJ will detect this as an SBT project. Select Import SBT Project when prompted

7. In the pop-up, choose SDK -> JDK -> Java 17. If Java 17 is not available, add it by selecting New... to the right of Project JDK, then +JDK, then /Library/Java/JavaVirtualMachines/adoptopenjdk-17.jdk and finally Open

8. Wait for IntelliJ to refresh the project and download dependencies (this might take a while)

9. Build the project with Cmd + F9. If you get no errors, IntelliJ setup is all done!

Tips:

• You can run individual tests by right-clicking and then selecting Run ...ExercisesTest (or just use SBT)

• Use Cmd + P inside the argument of a function to see what type the argument needs to be.

• Use Ctrl + Shift + P to find out the type of a highlighted expression.

Text Editor (Vim/Sublime/Atom/Emacs)

1. Open the current directory in an editor of your choice.

2. Open the SBT shell in a terminal window.

3. Compiling - See SBT instructions on how to compile code.

4. Running Tests - See SBT instructions on how to run tests.

5. Looking up Scala API - You can also search through the Scala APIs to find any necessary methods or use a documentation browser like Dash.

6. To explore the Scala API or any of the exercises use the Scala REPL - See SBT instructions on how to jump into the REPL.

Further documentation

• Scala API
• SBT 1.x
• ScalaTest 3.x
• Scalactic 3.x