Scala Course And Certification

What is Scala Programming?

Scala which is the short form for Scalable Programming Language is a hybrid, multi-purpose, object-oriented, functional programming language. It was developed by Martin Odersky. Scala smoothly added all the features of both object-oriented and functional languages. Scala programs are compiled to run on the Java Virtual Machine. Many already existing software companies, who completely depend on Java for handling their business-critical applications, are turning to Scala to further boost the productivity of their development, applications scalability and overall reliability. 

Scala joins basic object-oriented and functional programming in one small, high-level language. Scala's static types help get rid of errors and bugs in large and complex applications, and its Java virtual machine and JS runtimes let you write and build high-performing applications and systems with very simple, easy access to the large ecosystem of libraries.

Scala is a more than a purpose software programming language that provides much support for object-oriented and functional programming methodologies, and it's also built with a powerful static type system. It was designed to be small and concise, most of the decisions made when designing scala were aimed at addressing criticisms of Java. 

Scala is a completely object-oriented programming language in the sense that everything in it is an object. Classes in Scala are further extended by subclassing another class together with a very flexible, mixin-based arrangement mechanism as a clean replacement for multiple inheritances as seen in other languages. Scala is also a functional programming language in the sense that every function in Scala is a value and every value is an object, therefore, in Scala, every function is an object. 

Scala provides a lightweight and easy to understand the syntax for defining anonymous functions, it offers supports for higher-order functions, it allows functions to be nested and supports currying

Features of Scala Programming: 

1. Type Inference: In Scala, you are not required to declare data type and function return type explicitly. Scala is smart enough to find out the type of data. The return type of the function is gotten by the type of the last expression which is present in the function.

2. Singleton object: In Scala, there are no static methods or static variables. Scala makes use of a singleton object, which is basically classed with only one object in the source file. Singleton object is declared in Scala by using the object instead of the class keyword.

3. Immutability: Scala adopts the concepts of immutability. Each variable that is declared is immutable by default. Immutable here means you can't change its value. You can also generate mutable variables that can be modified.

4. Lazy Computation: In Scala, computation is lazy by default. Scala evaluates expressions only when they are required. You can declare a lazy variable by using a lazy keyword. It is used to increase performance.

5. Case classes and Pattern matching: Case classes in Scala are just normal classes that are immutable by default. All the parameters that are listed in the case class are public and immutable by default.

6. Concurrency control: Scala presents you with a standard library that holds the actor model. With Scala, you can write various concurrency codes by using an actor.

7. String Interpolation: Since the release of Scala 2.10.0, Scala presents a new feature to create strings from your input data. It is referred to as string interpolation. String interpolation allows users to include variable references directly in your processed string literals. Scala provides three methods for string interpolation which are: s, f and raw.

Benefits of Scala Programming: 

Below are some of the benefits of Scala: 

1. Scala allows you to use either the Object-Oriented paradigm or Functional Coding patterns.

2. Scala comes with Compatibility and Interoperability for Java programs.

3. Scala has a lot of advanced features.

4. Scala has a pretty good IDE support.

5. Sacla programs are highly scalable.

6. Scala ensures that you write high-quality code.

7. Learning scala will help you command a very high paying job because scala skilled people are being sorted after by the giant tech companies like Netflix, Airbnb, Morgan Stanely.

8. Scala works well for large-scale applications and data engineering infrastructure.

Why Study Scala Programming?

1. Scala is a pure object-oriented language.

2. Scala is also a functional language.

3. Scala has it's type system to be static.

4. Scala runs on the Java Virtual Machine.

5. Scala can run and execute java code

6. Scala can perform Synchronous and concurrent code processing.

7. Career opportunities and advancement

Scala Web Frameworks: 

Scala is mostly being used on every platform and most importantly it is used in enterprise web applications. Some of the web frameworks that allow it to be used on the web include: 

1. The Lift Framework.

2. The Play Framework.

3. The Bowler Framework.

Concepts in Scala Programming: 

1. Objects: Objects possess states and functions. An object is the basic unit of a class. 

2. Class: A class can be said to be like the main template that shows the functions or states that are related to just the class.

3. Methods. A method can be said to be a behavior or a function. A class can also contain methods and not just objects. The logic is done in methods, manipulation of data and all actions are executed in methods.

4. Fields: Every single object has its special set of variables which are referred to as fields. An object's behavior is created by the values that were assigned to these fields.

5. Closure: A closure is basically a method or function whose return value solely depends on the value of variables written outside this particular function.

6. Traits: A trait is a hidden function and field, which can be reused by combining them with classes. Traits are often used to state object types by specifying the signature of the supported methods.

Basic Syntax: 

The following are the basic syntaxes and coding conventions in Scala programming.

1. Case Sensitivity: Scala is a case-sensitive type language, which means Food and food mean different things in scala.

2. Class Naming: In the class naming convention for scala, the first letter should always be in Upper Case. If several words are used to form a single class name then the words should be in camel casing.

3. Method Names: All methods or function names are to be started with a Lower Case letter.

4. Program File Name: The name of the program file should exactly be the same as the object name.

5. def main(args: Array[String]): Scala program processing begins from the main() function which is a very important and unignorable part of every Scala Program. 

Scala Programming Course Outline

Scala Programming - Introduction

Scala Programming - Overview

Scala Programming - Environment Setup

Scala Programming - Basic Syntax

Scala Programming - Data Types

Scala Programming - Variables

Scala Programming - Classes & Objects

Scala Programming - Access Modifiers

Scala Programming - Operators

Scala Programming - IF ELSE

Scala Programming - Loop Statements

Scala Programming - Functions

Scala Programming - Closures

Scala Programming - Strings

Scala Programming - Arrays

Scala Programming - Collections

Scala Programming - Traits

Scala Programming - Pattern Matching

Scala Programming - Regular Expressions

Scala Programming - Exception Handling

Scala Programming - Extractors

Scala Programming - Files I/O

Scala Programming - Video Lectures 

Scala Programming - Exams And Certification