Monica McGuigan - My First Year in Scala!

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Navigating the world of Scala and functional programming as a beginner can feel daunting and intimidating. A year ago, I was thrown into the deep end of Scala.

Having come out on the other side, I want to share my experience to show newcomers that they’re not alone and can do this too!

I started my Scala journey in a junior developer role at a corporate bank after graduating with a degree in Physics. So, not only did I have the challenge of learning Scala from scratch, but I also had to apply these concepts to a domain I had no prior knowledge of. Initially, I experienced a lot of confusion and frustration, such as when my implicit encoder did not behave as I expected. However, my experienced Scala colleagues were always there to help me and quickly ease my frustrations. As a result, I want to help others avoid these pitfalls that led to a lot of wasted time for me in the beginning.

During this talk, we will cover the main Scala concepts that I have learned in the past year: what are Algebraic Data Types and how can I use them? Implicits and the issues I faced, and finally, starting out with SBT. I also want to discuss the different ways of learning Scala that I have experienced. Hopefully, after listening to me, other newcomers will feel less alone and more optimistic about diving into the exciting world of Scala!