Reviews for Beginning Scala (Expert's Voice in Open Source)

1. Deceptive in a good way

   Rated 5 out of 5 stars, February 12rd, 2010

   I bought this book as a cheap "extra" to Programming In Scala. But my, is it good - it looks too simple and reading it so little effort that you worry that it is oveer-simplifying, but no - it's just very well written. Without any dangerous shortcuts or omissions it takes you through the basic core of Scala between pages 20 and 45 - just 25 very clear and focused pages so that you can start writing "Scala as better Java" type code straightaway. It covers keys library classes and functional language elements - and the thinking behind them - just as well. It even has time for a chapter on using Scala's parser library for creating Domain Specific Languages.
   
   If you intend to work with Scala, you really should read Programming In Scala. It's the language founder's book and ultimate resource. But Beginning Scala covers the first things you need to know with outstanding clarity and brevity, making it the smart buy to get you through your first weekend of evaluating Scala. And it will let you save time by skipping huge amounts of Programming In Scala, letting you start with its coverage of really advanced topics, which is where it shines.

2. Reasonable introduction, but could be better.

   Rated 3 out of 5 stars, June 12th, 2009

   I have read both Programming In Scala: A Comprehensive Step-By-Step Guide and this book and I could only recommend this book to a person who is looking for a quick read (Programming In Scala is a much longer read, but also, in my opinion, a much better book).
   I think the author of this book could in many cases have spent a bit more time finding better examples/snippets (I am not a very good fan of examples like: Dude2, OtherDude, Yep, etc... but maybe this is just personal taste). Some of the examples which are supposed to be more meaningful (like the transactional actors example) are in my opinion a bit disappointing.
   Overall, it is a reasonable introduction to the Scala language, but I would encourage people to invest a bit more time and read Programming In Scala instead.