Strings and numbers: Scala can be easier than Ruby or Python thanks to type inference

When I was working on some python code I realized, gluing different parameters together is actually more complicated in Python (or Ruby) than in Scala or even in Java!

Someone would expect statically typed languages should be "by default" more complicated than flexible, dynamic Python or Ruby. Actually it may not be correct.

Scala has a really nice feature called types inference. This is something that could fill so natural and saves your time so often, you would wonder later why other languages are so resistant to pick it up. Let's see examples.

I would like to make string and int concatenation, like a code-number of a flight or road, e.g. aaa123

"aaa" + 123
foo + bar

Scala (sbt console):

scala> val foo = "aaa"
foo: String = aaa
scala> val bar = 123
bar: Int = 123
scala> foo + bar
res0: String = aaa123

Simple!

Python (ipython):

In [1]: foo = "aaa"
In [2]: bar = 123
In [3]: foo + bar
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
TypeError                                 Traceback (most recent call last)
 in ()
----> 1 foo + bar
TypeError: cannot concatenate 'str' and 'int' objects

In [4]: foo + str(bar)
Out[4]: 'aaa123'

Ruby (irb):


And how about if we want to add another number value:

scala> val baz = 3
baz: Int = 3
scala> foo + bar + baz
res1: String = aaa1233
scala> baz + bar + foo
res2: String = 126aaa

but perhaps I need aaa126?

I can just use parentheses to show the proper execution flow so type inference will not change the context of second operator:

scala> foo + (bar + baz)
res4: String = aaa126

To do the same in Python you would need explicit conversions:

In [8]: str(baz + bar) + foo
Out[8]: '126aaa'

and similar conversion thing in Ruby:

>> (bar + baz).to_s + foo
=> "126aaa"

This could feel a little bit complicated, especially when you see than even in this monstrous, boiler-plate driven Java you can also write just like this:

String foo = "aaa";
int bar = 123;
System.out.println(foo + bar); // aaa123

int baz = 3;

System.out.println(foo + bar + baz); // aaa1233
System.out.println(bar + baz + foo); // 126aaa
System.out.println(foo + (bar + baz)); // aaa126

How about Perl, the old school Swiss Army knife for data processing? Perl (and in similar fashion Visual Basic), gives you a choice - what kind of "addition" you want to do, a math (+) or a string concatenation (. for Perl or & if this is VB):

perl -le ' $foo="aaa"; $bar=123; $baz=3; print $bar + $baz.$foo '
126aaa

perl -le ' $foo="aaa"; $bar=123; $baz=3; print $foo.($bar + $baz) '
aaa126

Just remember Perl is trying conversion really hard - be sure this is what you really want, like here:

perl -le ' $gbp = "100gbp"; $eur = "100eur"; print($gbp + $eur) '
200