Two weeks ago, I picked up my copy of Programming in Scala, which had been languishing on my shelf for months. I pre-purchased it since I went to high school with one of the authors (Lex Spoon). His mother, incidentally, was also my favorite math teacher. When I started my new job back in September 2008, I was a total noob at Ruby, so learning that consumed my attention and other languages took a back burner. Also, I’m always a little reluctant when it comes to learning new languages. Not because I don’t like to learn them or because it’s difficult — but because it’s a serious investment of time that may be totally wasted. Sure, Standard ML is an interesting language, but try finding a job doing it. When I heard that Twitter was using Scala, I figured the time has come to pick up this book. It also helped that a friend recently started an Atlanta Scala Meetup group.
Aside from being an update on my life, the point of this post is to say that this book is great. Seldom have I encountered a programming book that achieves this level of depth while still being fun to read. There are great examples with humor mixed in, the writing is clear and concise, and it’s thorough. What more could you want?
Has anyone else picked up Scala? (I know there’s a few of you out there lurking!) Are there any other good books you would recommend?
In the interest of full disclosure, though I know one of the authors, I haven’t actually talked to him in quite a long time (since high school, I think). I also don’t make any extra money aside from the Amazon affiliate program commission if you happen to buy anything on their site after clicking the book link.