It’s always easier to learn new skills when you have a project to apply them to. When Flash developer Valentin Simonov got tired of trying to learn Scala by creating a command line utility, he decided to get creative and make Scala work with Processing. On his blog, he explains how to get started using Scala to write Processing sketches using the Java IDE IntelliJ IDEA.
Scala is a highly scalable language that uses the Java Virtual Machine. It’s used by companies like Foursquare and Twitter to build highly scalable Web applications.
Processing is a simple programming language for creating visualizations. It’s meant to be easy for non-programmers to learn. Artists can use Processing to create generative at programs known as sketches.
MSA Fluid Processing sketch ported to Scala
Simonov has ported some Processing sketches to Scala and made them available on Github. But his real plan is to learn Scala by working through the book Programming Scala and applying the lessons to Processing sketches.
I’m not sure how well this will work out, but it does seem like a fun way to learn a new language.