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Introduction to Scala

Begin your journey with Scala, a popular language for scalable applications and data engineering infrastructure.

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3 Hours13 Videos46 Exercises17,348 Learners3700 XPData Engineer Track

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Course Description

Get an introduction to the programming language Scala. You'll learn why and how companies like Netflix, Airbnb, and Morgan Stanley are choosing Scala for large-scale applications and data engineering infrastructure. You'll learn the basics of the language, including syntax and style, focusing on the most commonly used features in the Scala standard library. You'll learn by writing code for a real program that plays a computer version of the popular card game Twenty-One. You’ll get a taste of the value of a hybrid object-oriented and functional programming language, of which Scala is the foremost example. We recommend this course for learners with intermediate-level programming experience, which can be acquired in the listed prerequisites.

  1. 1

    A Scalable Language

    Free

    Welcome to Scala! You'll learn what Scala is, who uses it, and why you should use it. You'll explore four common data types: integers, floating-point numbers, logical values, and text, using the Scala interpreter.

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    A scalable language
    50 xp
    What is Scala?
    100 xp
    Why use Scala?
    100 xp
    Who uses Scala?
    50 xp
    Scala code and the Scala interpreter
    50 xp
    What makes Scala scalable?
    100 xp
    Scala is object-oriented
    100 xp
    Reasons for programming in Scala
    50 xp
    Immutable variables (val) and value types
    50 xp
    Define immutable variables (val)
    100 xp
    Don't try to change me
    100 xp
    Mutable variables (var) and type inference
    50 xp
    Define mutable variables (var)
    100 xp
    You can change me
    100 xp
    Pros and cons of immutability
    100 xp
  2. 2

    Workflows, Functions, Collections

    Discover two more ways of writing Scala code (writing a script and building an application) and popular tools that make writing these programs easier. Then, learn what functions do and how to use them, and structure your data using the Array and List collections.

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    Scripts, applications, and real-world workflows
    50 xp
    Create and run a Scala script
    100 xp
    Benefits of compiled languages
    50 xp
    Functions
    50 xp
    What do functions do?
    100 xp
    Identify the body of a function
    50 xp
    Call a function
    100 xp
    Arrays
    50 xp
    Create and parameterize an array
    100 xp
    Initialize an array
    100 xp
    An array, all at once
    100 xp
    Updating arrays
    100 xp
    Lists
    50 xp
    Initialize and prepend to a list
    100 xp
    Initialize a list using cons and Nil
    100 xp
    Concatenate Lists
    100 xp
  3. 3

    Type Systems, Control Structures, Style

    Learn about Scala's advanced static type system. After learning how to control your program with if/else, while loops, and the foreach method, you’ll convert imperative-style code to the Scala-preferred functional style.

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    Scala's static type system
    50 xp
    Static typing vs. dynamic typing
    100 xp
    Pros and cons of static type systems
    100 xp
    Make decisions with if and else
    50 xp
    if and printing
    100 xp
    if expressions result in a value
    100 xp
    if and else inside of a function
    100 xp
    while and the imperative style
    50 xp
    A simple while loop
    100 xp
    Loop over a collection with while
    100 xp
    foreach and the functional style
    50 xp
    Is Scala purely a functional language?
    50 xp
    Converting while to foreach
    100 xp
    Signs of style
    100 xp
    The essence of Scala
    50 xp

In the following tracks

Data Engineer

Collaborators

adriansotoAdrián Soto

Prerequisites

Intermediate Python
David Venturi Headshot

David Venturi

Data Science Educator

David graduated from Queen's University with a dual degree in Chemical Engineering and Economics. After working for a year, he discovered online education (in the early MOOC era) and became enamored with its potential. He has since created content to help people navigate the space, including a DIY data science master's program, Class Central's Data Science Career Guide, courses for Udacity's Data Analyst Nanodegree program, and several DataCamp courses and projects. Visit his website to say hi!
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