Scala is a wordplay on the terms language and scalable. This suggests that the language is created in a way that will allow it to expand as user demands do. It is an all-purpose programming language that adheres to functional and object-oriented programming paradigms .
Moreover, Scala has a more precise syntax that makes it a popular language for scripting. It is also utilized in the development of mission-critical applications. You can compile a program written in Scala to the Java bytecode and run it on the Java Virtual Machine (JVM). Also, you can compile it to JavaScript to run in a browser.
The language comes with more features of functional programming, unlike Java. These features include immutability, pattern matching, currying, and lazy evaluation. In addition, it features an advanced type system that supports anonymous types, covariance and contravariance, algebraic data types, operator overloading, named parameters, optional parameters, and many others.
Martin Odersky started the initial design of Scala Language in 2001 at the Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL) with previous work experience on javac compiler implementations and Java Generics. Scala was then publicly released in 2003. Odersky and a few Collaborators then also launched Typesafe Inc, now renamed Lightbend Inc, a company that provides commercial support, training, and services for Scala.
In today’s world, most information is available online through articles, YouTube videos, and training courses like Coursera and Udemy. Reading through books still gives you a way to learn something more systematically.
This article highlights some of the best Scala books through which you can learn and have a better grasp of the programming language.
10 Best Scala Books You Should Read in 2023
Below is the list of good sources to learn the Scala concepts for beginners as well as advanced learners.
1. Programming in Scala Book, 5th Editon
Author: Bill Venners and Martin Odersky
This book covers the Scala Programming concepts in detail. This is a beginner-friendly book to strengthen your language basics. It is always beneficial to go with the latest edition of a book to be aware of the latest updates in technology.
The initial chapters of the book cover the fundamental concepts of Scala so that you can perform simple tasks using Scala. Each new chapter is dependent on the previous one. It is a thorough book that covers the concepts of the language and major libraries.
Furthermore, the fifth edition of this book is the major rewrite that primarily covers Scala 3.0. In this edition, the authors have added many more new chapters and removed some old ones. Some of the major concepts this edition covers include:
- Extension methods
- Export clauses
- Top-level definitions
- Trait parameters
- Context parameters
- Enums and ADTs
- Union and intersection types
About the Author
Martin Odersky is the creator of the Scala language and a professor at EPFL in Lausanne, Switzerland.
Lex Spoon is a software engineer at Square Inc.
Bill Venners is a community representative on the Scala Center Advisory Board and a president of Artima Press. He is also a designer of the ScalaTest testing framework and Scalactic library.
Publisher: Artima Press
Paperback Print Length: 675 pages
You can get the book from here .
Get a free PDF version of the book here .
2. Programming Scala, 3rd Edition
Author: Dean Wampler
Foreforward: Seth Tisue
This book is for experienced Scala Learners, where you can find the concepts with a good set of examples covering the wide variety of possible usages of the concept. The author has used easy-to-use language. Reading this book lets you know how to write the same Scala code more effectively.
The book will aid in gaining a thorough understanding of Scala's design principles and features with a practical orientation. It has covered all the new features of Scala 3.0 and will help you:
- Create Scala programs with Scala’s succinct and simple syntax.
- Use Scala’s functional combinators and tools, like Akka and Spark , to create amazing big data tools.
- Learn advanced functional programming concepts.
- Create flexible solutions to complex design problems with Scala’s type system, pattern matching, and many other features.
About the Author
Dean Wampler is a principal software engineer at Domino Data Lab. Also, he has been a member of the Scala community for a long time.
Publisher: Shroff/O'Reilly
Paperback Print Length: 556 pages
You can get the book from here .
Get a free PDF version of the book here .
3. Scala Cookbook, 2nd Edition
Author: Alvin Alexander
This book is intended to be used by individuals who have basic Scala knowledge and still want to learn by looking at different examples with their outputs. It contains solutions to more than 250 common Scala programming problems with solutions and more than 1000 code examples that assist you in solving the most common Scala problems.
Compared to other Scala 3 learning resources, there are several unique things about this book:
- As a cookbook, it’s intended to save your time by providing solutions to the most common problems you’ll encounter while working with Scala 3 and major libraries.
- The book covers not only the Scala language but also recipes on Scala tools and libraries, including sbt, Spark, Scala.js, Akka actors, and JSON processing with the Play Framework.
- The book takes a big dive into the Scala collections classes.
- Output from the examples is shown in the Scala interpreter or comments after the code. As a result, whether you’re sitting by a computer, on a plane, or reading in your favorite recliner, you get the benefit of seeing their exact output. (Which often leads to, “Ah, so that’s how that works.”)
Some of the code recipes the book includes are:
- String, numbers, and control structures.
- Functional programming techniques.
- Classes, methods, objects, traits, imports, and packaging.
- Popular libraries, including Spark, Scala.js, and Play Framework.
- Best practices for pattern matching, functional error handling, and modules.
- Classes and methods.
About the Author
Alvin Alexander holds a bachelor’s degree in Aerospace Engineering from Texas. Currently, he runs his own business named Valley Programming.
Publisher: Shroff/O'Reilly
Paperback Print Length: 804 pages
You can get the book from here .
Get a free PDF version of the book here .
4. Scala Design Patterns, 2nd Edition
Author: Ivan Nikolov
This book can teach you how to write compelling, clean, and reusable code with scala. If you want to apply your understanding of Scala to create real-life applications, this book can help you. It covers the design patterns, namely structural, creational, and behavioral, to develop out-of-the-box applications. It will assist you in understanding the power of traits and their applications in scala. It has covered some design patterns over scala topics by implementing abstract and self types.
Initially, the book walks you through the latest features of Scala and some real-world examples. Later, you will learn about Aspect-oriented programming and IDEs. You will be getting acquainted with the well-known ‘Gang of Four design patterns and various Scala components in this book.
Finally, the book walks you through practical examples that demonstrate how to implement design patterns in the real world. By the end of the book, you will be equipped with the knowledge to build enterprise-grade applications using Scala.
About the Author
Ivan Nikolov is a software engineer who has worked with a variety of big data technologies and many interesting real-time projects, including batch processing solutions and real-time predictive analytics engines.
Publisher: Ingram short title
Paperback Print Length: 396 pages
You can get the book from here .
The below link also has code examples related to the above book here .
5. Learning Concurrent Programming in Scala, 2nd Edition
Author: Aleksandar Prokopec
This book is for software developers who wish to develop concurrent programs in Scala or hone their knowledge in concurrent programming. Having basic Scala knowledge will help you understand concepts better; however, if you have a piece of solid knowledge of Java also, this book might help you. It is, therefore, perfect for individuals with little to no experience in concurrent programming.
Through this book, you will learn:
- Concurrent programming fundamentals on contemporary multiprocessor systems. JVM concurrency model is the main area of interest.
- Developing high-performing concurrent models from low-level concurrency primitives.
- Speed up sequential programs using data parallel connections.
- Design safe and easy-to-implement data models.
- Develop distributed applications that can scale across several machines.
About the Author
Aleksandar Prokopec is a concurrent and distributed programming researcher. Currently, he is a major researcher at Oracle Labs. Formerly, he worked at Google.
Publisher: Packt Publishing
Paperback Print Length: 368 pages
You can get the book from here .
6. Scala in Action
Author: Nilanjan Raychaudhuri
This book is meant for intermediate to advanced Scala Learners. This focuses more on the advanced Scala Topics, and it will be better if someone who is starting with this book can first read through Programming in Scala Book. Also, if you have experience working with Java , it would be a plus point.
The author has explained the language concepts through hands-on examples and concise explanations. When you finish reading this book, you'll be able to:
- Work with Scala and Spring.
- Develop DSLs and other productivity tools.
- Grasp the concurrent programming in Akka.
The book contains the following:
- How to use Java and Scala open-source libraries
- Scala tutorial
- Test-driven development
- Debugging
- How to use SBT
About the Author
Nilanjan Raychaudhuri is a developer, speaker, and polyglot programmer.
Publisher: Manning
Paperback Print Length: 419 pages
You can get the book from here .
Get a free PDF version from here .
7. Scala in Depth
Author: Joshua D. Suereth
This book teaches some essential concepts and the best practices one should follow while writing Scala Code. The Scala type system is explained well in this book. It also talks about how to integrate Scala into existing Java applications.
With a little heavy-handed theory, this book is replete with hundreds of crisp and clear techniques for coding in Scala. It is ideal for individuals having experience with Java, Scala, and any other object-oriented programming language.
This book covers:
- Integrating Scala into your existing projects
- Expensive, readable, and clear coding style
- Scala's 2.8.0 collections API
- Scala type system
- Object-oriented features, including inheritance and composition
- Using actors for concurrent programming
- Functional patterns and concepts
About the Author
Josh Suereth is a software developer at Typesafe and a Scala committer who maintains tools at scala-tools.org.
Publisher: Manning
Paperback Print Length: 304 pages
You can get the book from here .
Get a free pdf version from here .
8. Scala By Examples
Author: Darrin Watson
As its name suggests, this book explains Scala concepts through hands-on examples and clear descriptions. It follows a ‘how-to’ approach to explain all the programming difficulties you encounter in daily work. Additionally, it thoroughly explains all of Scala's complex ideas for greater comprehension.
Publisher: Independently published
Paperback Print Length: 407 pages
You can get the book from here .
9. Scala Programming: Learn Scala Programming FAST and EASY! (Programming is Easy Book 11)
Author: Mathew Gimson
This book is ideal for beginners as it initially explains the origin, uses, and benefits of Scala to readers. Later, it moves on to explain how to set up the environment for running Scala programs on different platforms, including Windows, Linux, and macOS. Next, you will explore the basic syntax of the language, variable declaration, different parts that form a Scala program, keywords, types of operators, and how to use ‘var’ and ‘val’ keywords together.
Furthermore, you will find numerous examples that make your understanding of the concepts you learned more strong. Later, it covers decision-making statements, loops, closures, functions, and strings in Scala.
Publisher: Independently published
Paperback Print Length: 90 pages
You can buy this book from here .
10. Functional Programming in Scala, 1st Edition
Author: Paul Chiusano and Rúnar Bjarnason
This book is a perfect guide for programmers who wish to learn functional programming (FP) and apply it to daily coding work. From basic techniques to advanced ones, you will have a better grasp of FP in a clear and concise way through this book. It also includes concrete examples and exercises to help you get acquainted with FP.
Even if you are not acquainted with FP, this book is a definitive guide. However, knowing the basics of Scala and Java would be advantageous. This book covers:
- Basic to advance concepts of functional programming.
- The whys and hows of functional programming.
- Exercises and examples for better understanding.
- Writing multicode programs in Scala.
About the Author
Paul Chiusano is a co-designer of a functional programming curriculum and taught many of his co-workers at his workplace. Also, he is a regular blogger and speaker on Scala and functional programming.
Rúnar Bjarnason is a self-taught programmer with 2 decades of experience focusing on functional programming. He is an occasional speaker and blogger on functional programming and Scala.
Publisher: Manning
Paperback Print Length: 320 pages
You can buy this book from here .
Conclusion
This brings us to the end of the list of the 10 best Scala books. By keeping in mind the fact that Scala has a little bit of a steep learning curve, you may find it challenging in the beginning to learn the language. If you have good exposure to Java or any other object-oriented programming language, you can easily grasp the concepts of Scala programming. So, reading one book is not enough to master Scala. Reading at least two books will help you grasp things better.
We hope the above information helps you gain your scala journey from beginner to expert level.
Happy Reading and Happy Learning.
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