Scala Links

Well, I said I'd have more Scala links, so here they are:

• http://scala-blogs.org/2008/01/guide-to-scala-community.html - provides some links I'd otherwise list, along with many others
• http://lamp.epfl.ch/~phaller/actors.html - Actors, Scala's cool approach to concurrent programming which comes originally from Erlang
• http://burak.emir.googlepages.com/scalaxbook.docbk.html - Scala.xml, paper on interacting with XML in Scala
• http://www.ibm.com/developerworks/views/java/libraryview.jsp?search_by=scala+neward - Ted Neward's "The busy Java developer's guide to Scala" series at IBM DeveloperWorks (This is a link to a search because I've never figured out how to link to a series)
• http://www.artima.com/forums/forum.jsp?forum=282 - Artima "Programming in Scala" Forum
• http://www.artima.com/scalatest/ - ScalaTest, a unit testing framework for Scala that can also be used to test Java code (could make a nice way to gradually get to know the language)
• http://www.artima.com/forums/flat.jsp?forum=276&thread=216815 - Groovy, JRuby, or Scala: Which JVM Language to Learn Next?

If anyone else provides links (that aren't already on the first page linked above), I'd be happy to add them.

I Have a Logo!

If you've ever been here before, you'll probably notice that the top of the page looks different - I've added a logo! Beth spent some time designing one for my company, Grove Hill Software (yes, I know that is a truly sad website), and produced a modified version for my blog. I hope you like it. I sure do.

Experimenting with Scala

Although I'm really comfortable with Java and like it a lot, I came to the conclusion a while ago that I needed to add a language to my repertoire that facilitates rapid development. I know some JavaScript (which is actually a more powerful language than you might think), PHP, and Perl, but none of those quite fit the bill. I've been considering Python and Ruby for a while, but I've recently gotten very interested in Scala. I bought the e-book Programming in Scala available at Artima. I'll let you know what I think of it, along with posting a bunch of useful Scala-related links I've tracked down.

MyEclipse and reenabling Ctrl-Shift-T (Open Type)

I've been using Eclipse for a few years now and although I've always been a bit curious to try out NetBeans and IntelliJ IDEA, I've been pretty satisfied with it. I'm working with a client now who uses MyEclipse, a commercial package of plugins that runs on top of Eclipse, so I figured I'd give it a try. I installed MyEclipse 6 on top of Eclipse 3.3 (Callisto) and was pretty happy with it, until I tried typing Ctrl-Shift-T, Eclipse's handy shortcut for opening the VERY useful Open Type dialog, and it didn't work. Ack! I use that dialog dozens of times a day! I searched around on the Web to see if anyone else was having the same problem and it turned out several people had, but hadn't discovered a solution. Well, I just happened upon the fix. I'll post the steps here, but I'll also try to track down some of those posts of desperate people on forums and let them know about it.

For some hard to fathom reason, installing MyEclipse must deactivate the Open Type command for the Java Perspective. To re-enable it, making it work with Ctrl-Shift-T and appear in the Navigate menu, go to Window-->Customize Perspective..., choose the "Commands" tab and check the "Java Navigation" checkbox. Taa Daa!