2010/8/29 Cédric Beust ♔ <ced...@beust.com> > > > On Sun, Aug 29, 2010 at 7:18 PM, Josh Berry <tae...@gmail.com> wrote: > And also: loops, iterations, if, lists, tuples, sets, maps, fields, > methods, singleton objects, traits, operators and operator overloading, > expressions, case classes, pattern matching, first class functions, > currying, closures, by-name parameters, ... That's just the simple > features. Do I need to go on with more advanced topics? >
I think there is a distinction that needs to be made in this between data structures available within Scala, and the Scala language. A large part of your list seems to be covered with this. So, yes, I would question teaching someone these before they have a grasp on the concepts they describe. Your logic seems to me the kind that would require us state that no first grader speaks English, as they do not understand adverbs, semicolons, colons, adjectives, subject verb agreement, etc. I don't see the utility in that. However, I do see how that means I should explicitly state my definition for "using Scala." I don't think someone needs an advanced understanding of all functional constructs in order to use Scala. A good thing, too, as my understanding is severely lacking in many many topics. Instead, I mean simply that what they have written could be pasted into a Scala program and the compiler would accept it. Kojo seems to fit that bill. The document doesn't even talk about classes nor var and val. > > Look, the fact that the Kojo documentation barely talks about Scala is what > makes Kojo great. It's a tool for beginners and thankfully, the Kojo authors > realize this and they understand the concepts of complexity and learning > curve. > And, to me, the fact that Scala can support a language that doesn't immediately require knowledge of advanced data structures and control flow is what makes it a pretty awesome language. More impressively, it does make available more complex structures than I had ever expressed before. Usually quite concisely such that I'm looking at a description of the structure, and not at a ton of "required code" in order to express it. This is great, as nothing has excited me more lately, than the amount of learning I have done simply lurking on the Scala mailing lists. -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "The Java Posse" group. To post to this group, send email to javapo...@googlegroups.com. To unsubscribe from this group, send email to javaposse+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com. For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/javaposse?hl=en.
