Scala 2.8.0 released

Following seven release candidates, the Scala developers have announced the release of version 2.8.0 of their general purpose programming language. Scala, an object-oriented, functional language, which runs on the Java virtual machine, has become popular with Java developers as an alternative way to develop code that makes use of Java based infrastructure. According to the developers, the latest codebase includes "a huge number of bug fixes" over the previous 2.7.7 release and several new features.

Scala 2.8.0 features a completely redesigned collections library which maintains "virtually complete compatibility with existing sources", a newly optimised array implementation and support for continuations as part of the main distribution of Scala, which is provided by a compiler plug-in. Other changes include a new build manager, support for named and default arguments and package objects for associating methods and fields with packages. Swing support, annotations, the XML library and actors have also been improved.

More details about the release can be found in the official release announcement. Scala 2.8.0 is available to download from the project's site and documentation is provided. Scala is licensed under a BSD licence.

See also:

• Scala-based programming environment for Java, a report from The H.

(crve)