This chapter introduced Scala, the reasons for its recent popularity, and how Scala and Scalding are associated. Build tools and IDEs were briefly presented, and then we executed our first Scala application.

A Hadoop environment for development was set up, and we moved to running a Scalding application in many modes while discussing in detail the commands involved. After executing a distributed MapReduce application in Scalding for the first time, we reviewed the web interfaces of the Hadoop applications.

In the next chapter, we will present an overview of Scalding and its capabilities, using trivial examples.