Learn Scala 3 Fast: Variables: val Fields

In every programming language you create variables, and in Scala you create new variables with the val keyword. For example, this is how you create a String:

val firstName = "Alvin"

In the REPL you can print the value in the variable firstName like this:

scala> println(firstName)
Alvin

Taking this a little further, given these two variables:

val firstName = "Alvin"
val lastName = "Alexander"

you can use those variables to create a new variable named fullName like this:

val fullName = firstName + " " + lastName

This is what you see when you print the fullName variable in the REPL:

scala> println(fullName)
Alvin Alexander

As you can infer from the examples so far, the general syntax for creating a new variable looks like this:

val theVariableName = theVariableValue

TIP: As shown in these examples, in Scala the standard is to create variable names using camel case, like firstName, lastName, etc. (Conversely, we do not name them first_name and last_name.)

You can’t modify val fields

An important thing about val fields is that they are immutable, meaning that they can’t be changed. So if you create a val variable like this:

val x = 1

you can’t update it to a new value later. If you try to give x a new value in the REPL you’ll see an error message like this:

x = 2    // ERROR: Reassignment to val x

A val field in Scala is similar to a final field in Java, and like a const field in JavaScript.

Variable as in algebra

If it seems unusual that a variable can’t vary, it’s important to know that a val field is a “variable” in the algebraic meaning: just like in algebra, once you assign a value to a variable, it can’t be changed.

This may seem like a limitation, but I ended up learning a ton about programming by following this one simple rule:

Make every variable in Scala a val field, unless you have a good reason not to.

When you truly need a variable whose value can be modified (mutated), see the next lesson.

REPL experiments

I always recommend experimenting with things, and to help you get started, here are some experiments you can try in the REPL:

val a = 1
val b = (a + 2) * 2

b = 7   // this is an intentional error

val c = "hello"

Exercises

The exercises for this lesson are available here.