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I'm interested in learning Scala, but due to is relative newness, I can't seem to find a whole lot of books about it.

Is there a book out there that's the de-facto standard for describing best practices, design methodologies, and other helpful information on Scala? What makes that book special?

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stackoverflow.com/q/194812/203968 list a few free ones – oluies Oct 17 '10 at 9:52

We're looking for long answers that provide some explanation and context. Don't just give a one-line answer: please explain why you're recommending it as a solution. Answers that don't explain anything will be deleted. See Good Subjective, Bad Subjective for more information.

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I can advise Programming in Scala because it's from the creator of the Scala language: Martin Odersky.

He describes most of the features of Scala very detailedly and explains, why he chose this feature instead of an other one. Therefore, the reader gets a deep insight into Scala. The book is fantastic. It is one of the best programming books I've ever read.

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Lex Spoon, one of the co-authors, is a clear communicator and Clever Dude (see his Squeak Smalltalk contributions); that bodes well for the book! – Frank Shearar Oct 4 '10 at 6:26
I've been told by both the head of our department and a PhD candidate that I'm good friends with that this is currently the best book on the language. Both of them are fans of Scala, and have large enough libraries that I trust their insight into which books are worth it and which aren't (as they tell me about those that aren't worth it quite often). – sp0rus Oct 5 '10 at 22:47
@Frank: Great. I didn't know Spoon was also a Smalltalk guy. :) – missingfaktor Oct 17 '10 at 4:47
Small side note, Programming in Scala second edition was just released. It includes updates and changes in scala 2.8. – Jason Webb Jan 25 '11 at 15:57
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Artima's Programming in Scala is the best Scala book you can get at the moment. Very recommended. I found O'Reilly's Programming Scala to be a good second book; It moves a bit faster than I'd like though.

I also tried David Pollak's Beginning Scala but didn't quite like it, and I don't recommend it to anyone.

All the above-mentioned books are somewhat oudated as they don't cover a lot of things new in Scala 2.8. I am hoping that the updated editions of these books will be published soon.

Though more than half a dozen Scala books have already been published, I believe that the best books are yet to come.

The two books in particular that I think you should keep your eye on are:

  1. Scala in Depth by Josh Suereth

  2. Steps in Scala by Christos Loverdos and Apostolos Syropoulos

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I would O'Reilly's Programming Scala is the best book for those who want to kick start and get their feet wet on scala and Artima's Programming in Scala is a great book for reference much like the Java - The complete reference book – prasonscala Mar 15 '11 at 14:10
@prassee: Agree with the first part; disagree with the second. – missingfaktor Mar 15 '11 at 15:48

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