Wiki source code of WebObjects with Scala
Version 229.1 by Ravi Mendis on 2009/09/16 18:17
Show last authors
author | version | line-number | content |
---|---|---|---|
1 | === What is Scala? === | ||
2 | |||
3 | Scala is a modern language not unlike Groovy. | ||
4 | It is said to be more powerful (and faster) than Groovy or Rails which has been the reason for its adoption at sites like Twitter. | ||
5 | |||
6 | Many of its features and paradigms favor multi-threaded and concurrent development which may not be unfamiliar to Objective-C and WebObjects developers. Here's a summary: | ||
7 | |||
8 | |= |= Objective-C |= Java |= Scala | ||
9 | |= Mutable/Immuable Datatypes | Collections //e.g: NSArray/NSMutableArray// | No | //All datatypes// | ||
10 | |= Closures | Blocks (//Extension//) | No | //Built-in// | ||
11 | |= Static variables | Yes | Yes | No | ||
12 | |= Static methods/functions | Yes | Yes | No | ||
13 | |= Concurrency | [[Grand Central Dispatch>>http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grand_Central_Dispatch]] (//Extension//)| //Threads// |[[Actors>>http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Actor_model]] | ||
14 | |= |= Weakly Typed |=--Strongly Typed--|= Strongly Typed | ||
15 | |||
16 | Other notable features include: | ||
17 | |||
18 | |= |= Objective-C |= Java |= Scala | ||
19 | |= Parametered methods | Yes //e.g: addObject: to~:// | No | Yes //e.g: add(object= ,to=)// | ||
20 | |= Class composition | Categories | Interfaces | Traits | ||
21 | |||
22 | A fuller description of Scala can be found [[here>>http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scala_(programming_language)]]. | ||
23 | |||
24 | === Why Use Scala? === | ||
25 | |||
26 | With Web 2.0, building concurrent WebObjects applications is a must. | ||
27 | Developing and maintaining a concurrent or multi-threaded WebObjects application can be challenging. | ||
28 | |||
29 | Scala offers concurrency that is (effectively) built-in to the language and is inherently thread-safe. | ||
30 | So it may offer new solutions for concurrency in WebObjects. | ||
31 | |||
32 | === Can WebObjects be Programmed In Scala? === | ||
33 | |||
34 | Yes. It is very simple. | ||
35 | Scala compiles to java bytecode. Hence using it with WebObjects is fairly straightforward. | ||
36 | |||
37 | == How to Program WebObjects In Scala == | ||
38 | |||
39 | {{include value="WOL:Adding Scala Support to a WOLips Project"}}{{/include}} | ||
40 | |||
41 | {{note title="Note"}} | ||
42 | |||
43 | This is for Eclipse/WOLips IDE | ||
44 | |||
45 | {{/note}} | ||
46 | |||
47 | == WO Scala Example == | ||
48 | |||
49 | The following is a mixed Java/Scala version of the WO Movies D2W app. | ||
50 | All the EO logic and WO components are in Scala. | ||
51 | Only the Application class is Java. | ||
52 | |||
53 | {{attachments patterns=".*zip"}}{{/attachments}} | ||
54 | |||
55 | === Setup === | ||
56 | |||
57 | 1. Install and run the OpenBase OBMovies database. | ||
58 | 1. Right-click on Application.java and run as a WOApplication (as usual). | ||
59 | |||
60 | ==== EO Templates ==== | ||
61 | |||
62 | See: [[Scala templates>>http://wiki.objectstyle.org/confluence/display/WOL/EOGenerator+Templates+and+Additions]] | ||
63 | |||
64 | When you create your ##.eogen## file, be sure to make the following changes in the EOGenerator Editor: | ||
65 | |||
66 | 1. Change the File Names Extension to "scala" | ||
67 | 1. Uncheck Java under Options |