Scala open source projects

[olambo]

Hi all,

I'm struggling a little in deciding how to continue to learn Scala.  
I've read the new book once through, done some small programming  
tasks, etc. When I was learning Java, I was working with it all the  
time so becoming "reasonably" proficient wasn't difficult. I'm simply  
not going to get that luxury with Scala - so another approach is in  
order.

I understand that joining/starting an open source project is a good  
way of learning a language. Its pretty easy with Java as there are a  
"few" such projects. What do you think the pro/cons are in Scala of

1) Starting a new open source project.
2) Joining an existing one.
3) Forget open source - just do a one man project.

I kind of remember a while ago before I stalled my Scala progress for  
(6+ months) I was reading about Martin's (I think) summer projects  
that listed a bunch of things he was interested in pursuing.  Would it  
be valid to set up such a pool of open source projects that members  
here could join or negotiate to join based on where they are, what  
they are interested in, what their programming background are, etc.

cheers
Oliver

[Eelco Hillenius]

> 1) Starting a new open source project.
> 2) Joining an existing one.
> 3) Forget open source - just do a one man project.

My opinion: don't start an open source project unless you have serious
plans about eating your own dog food in some non-trivial project, or
of which the scope is so small that you can have a finished project in
a few months. If you want to learn Scala, get a job where you can use
it, or develop a tool or website in it you can use yourself. :-)

Eelco

[Matt Hellige]

On Jan 7, 2008 4:10 AM, Oliver Lambert <olambo@...> wrote:
> I understand that joining/starting an open source project is a good
> way of learning a language. Its pretty easy with Java as there are a
> "few" such projects. What do you think the pro/cons are in Scala of
>
> 1) Starting a new open source project.
> 2) Joining an existing one.
> 3) Forget open source - just do a one man project.
>

I think it's a great idea. I don't see too much difference between 1
and 3. Either way, you want to concentrate on programming rather than
administration, so I would say: start something you're interested in,
and if people want to help you, so much the better! As for 2, there
aren't a lot of open source projects using Scala (yet), but there's
plenty of work to do writing and improving libraries, etc., so if
you're interested in that type of stuff, you might want to take a look
at scalax (http://scalax.scalaforge.org/).

> I kind of remember a while ago before I stalled my Scala progress for
> (6+ months) I was reading about Martin's (I think) summer projects
> that listed a bunch of things he was interested in pursuing.  Would it
> be valid to set up such a pool of open source projects that members
> here could join or negotiate to join based on where they are, what
> they are interested in, what their programming background are, etc.

Sounds nice, but I think maybe it's better to let open source projects
develop more organically, depending on demand. On the other hand, it
would probably be nice to have some kind of community wish-list. Maybe
we should start one on the wiki?

Matt

--
Matt Hellige / matt@...
http://matt.immute.net

[olambo]

I just ran a search on seek for "Scala, contract, Sydney". Damn no  
hits, I'll have to try permanent ! (-:

On 08/01/2008, at 2:32 AM, Eelco Hillenius wrote:

>> 1) Starting a new open source project.
>> 2) Joining an existing one.
>> 3) Forget open source - just do a one man project.
>
> My opinion: don't start an open source project unless you have serious
> plans about eating your own dog food in some non-trivial project, or
> of which the scope is so small that you can have a finished project in
> a few months. If you want to learn Scala, get a job where you can use
> it, or develop a tool or website in it you can use yourself. :-)
>
> Eelco

[olambo]

Hi Matt,

Apart from lift, I haven't seen other open source projects developing  
organically
in Scala - hopefully this will begin to change soon.

If I start a open source project on what currently interests me, I  
think Ill be
chewing very hard and long and don't know if it could really be  
classified
as Scala.

Oliver

On 08/01/2008, at 2:33 AM, Matt Hellige wrote:

> On Jan 7, 2008 4:10 AM, Oliver Lambert <olambo@...> wrote:
>> I understand that joining/starting an open source project is a good
>> way of learning a language. Its pretty easy with Java as there are a
>> "few" such projects. What do you think the pro/cons are in Scala of
>>
>> 1) Starting a new open source project.
>> 2) Joining an existing one.
>> 3) Forget open source - just do a one man project.
>>
>
> I think it's a great idea. I don't see too much difference between 1
> and 3. Either way, you want to concentrate on programming rather than
> administration, so I would say: start something you're interested in,
> and if people want to help you, so much the better! As for 2, there
> aren't a lot of open source projects using Scala (yet), but there's
> plenty of work to do writing and improving libraries, etc., so if
> you're interested in that type of stuff, you might want to take a look
> at scalax (http://scalax.scalaforge.org/).
>
>> I kind of remember a while ago before I stalled my Scala progress for
>> (6+ months) I was reading about Martin's (I think) summer projects
>> that listed a bunch of things he was interested in pursuing.  Would  
>> it
>> be valid to set up such a pool of open source projects that members
>> here could join or negotiate to join based on where they are, what
>> they are interested in, what their programming background are, etc.
>
> Sounds nice, but I think maybe it's better to let open source projects
> develop more organically, depending on demand. On the other hand, it
> would probably be nice to have some kind of community wish-list. Maybe
> we should start one on the wiki?
>
> Matt
>
> --
> Matt Hellige / matt@...
> http://matt.immute.net

[Eelco Hillenius]

On Jan 8, 2008 9:52 AM, Oliver Lambert <olambo@...> wrote:
> I just ran a search on seek for "Scala, contract, Sydney". Damn no
> hits, I'll have to try permanent ! (-:

How about that brilliant idea for a web 2.0 site you could develop in
your spare time but that's sure to conquer the world? ;-)

Eelco