Book Image

Introduction to JVM Languages

Book Image

Introduction to JVM Languages

Overview of this book

Anyone who knows software development knows about the Java Virtual Machine. The Java Virtual Machine is responsible for interpreting Java byte code and translating it into actions. In the beginning, Java was the only programming language used for the JVM. But increasing complexity of the language and the remarkable performance of the JVM created an opening for a new generation of programming languages. If you want to build a strong foundation with the Java Virtual Machine and get started with popular modern programming languages, then this book is for you. The book will begin with a general introduction of the JVM and its features, which are common to the JVM languages, helping you get abreast with its concepts. It will then dive into explaining languages such as Java, Scala, Clojure, Kotlin, and Groovy and will show how to work with each language, their features, use cases, and pros and cons. By writing example projects in those languages and focusing on each language’s strong points, it will help you find the programming language that is most appropriate for your particular needs. By the end of the book, you will have written multiple programs that run on the Java Virtual Machine and know about the differences between the various languages.
Table of Contents (21 chapters)
Title Page
Credits
About the Author
About the Reviewer
www.PacktPub.com
Customer Feedback
Preface

Chapter 6. Scala Programming

In this chapter, we are going to do a small project in Scala, using the popular Akka toolkit. Akka is a toolkit that aims to make the creation of scalable applications on a JVM easier. It is available for both Java and Scala, but since it was built by the creators of Scala, Akka is an excellent fit for Scala.

We will build a simple program that will display a random quote from a hardcoded list of quotes. Akka is based on the Actor model, which we will explore in this chapter. To write the project we will use Scala IDE, which is available both as a standalone software package and as a plugin that could be installed on Eclipse IDE. We will use the latter. To build the project, we will use the Scala build tool. These are the topics that we will cover in this chapter:

  • Scala IDE for Eclipse
  • Scala Build Tool (SBT)
  • SBT Eclipse for the SBT plugin
  • The scalac compiler
  • The Akka toolkit
  • Unit testing with ScalaTest
  • Writing an executable main program