This evening I went to a YOW Night where Ken Scambler (@KenScambler) spoke about the introduction and evolution of using Scala at REA Group. Here’s my notes…

Functional Scala Benefits

The benefits of going functional are to get to code that is: Modular, Abstract, Composable.

Modularity is about being able to fit entire sections of code in your head without having to consider things going on outside that code, and also about being able to replace small parts without affecting the whole.

To write a total function (a function that returns a result for all possible input values), you need to elevate all possibilities into the type system. For example, you can’t throw an exception, you have to encode that possibility of an error into the return value somehow.

Abstraction should reduce changes to code, because unnecessary detail is not all across the code.

Whole systems can be composed from functional components.

Functional programming is not about picking up a hipster language. It’s about producing better software.
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