4 ms·

Scala and Android Development

50 points by kmccarth 15y ago

stephenjudkins 15y ago
There are a few obstacles to easily using Scala on Android. Namely, the Scala standard library is too large to be easily "dexed" by the Android toolchain. Using Proguard or a similar treeshaker removes unused classes, but it's a bit of a hassle to set up manually. However, I've found that using the SBT Android plugin (https://github.com/jberkel/android-plugin https://github.com/jberkel/android-plugin) makes the entire process relatively painless. I recommend starting with that approach.
- jbrechtel 15y ago
  Yea, setting that up by hand can be a PITA. jberkel's plugin helps out a lot. Also, if you're interested in using Robolectric with Scala then this helps (warning, shameless plug) https://github.com/jbrechtel/robospecs https://github.com/jbrechtel/robospecs
- pufuwozu 15y ago
  I wrote a small tutorial on manually setting up Android with Scala: http://brianmckenna.org/blog/minimalist_android_scala_env http://brianmckenna.org/blog/minimalist_android_scala_env Enabling ProGuard is done by adding the following to build.xml: <target name="-debug-obfuscation-check"> <property name="proguard.enabled" value="true" /> <path id="out.dex.jar.input.ref" /> </target> Also add "proguard.config=proguard.cfg" to default.properties and "-dontwarn" to proguard.cfg.
EricButler 15y ago
I'm excited to try Scala for Android development but haven't had the time to figure out a new build system, etc. I hope it'll eventually be integrated into Intellij IDEA.
- jbrechtel 15y ago
  In case you're interested....I've written a few articles detailing getting up and running with Scala+Android+IntelliJ. http://bit.ly/msXMZN http://bit.ly/msXMZN http://bit.ly/lIDHRs http://bit.ly/lIDHRs and http://bit.ly/kgiAqZ http://bit.ly/kgiAqZ
GrooveStomp 15y ago
> Ultimately, more Scala used means more modern Android development. One would assume that Google would have a vested interested in at least aiding the Boston Android’s project, but they have yet to send a representative to a meet-up thus far. I find this to be a pretty naive statement. I've never once thought of Scala on Android as being anywhere near official, and I don't see why Google would jump on the chance to officially support it. Now, having a Googler show up of their own volition - that's a different matter altogether. Maybe there just aren't any interested Googlers in the area?
joeburke 15y ago
"generally easier to understand" "Ultimately, more Scala used means more modern Android development. " The author has a clear chip on his/her shoulder and is making statements that are pretty controversial, even within the Scala community itself. Thinking that using a certain language automatically leads to "more modern development" (whatever that means) is pretty ludicrous in itself. If language advocates spent less time advocating and more time actually producing the cool stuff they claim that their language enables, they might actually get heard.
- kmccarth 15y ago
  well said, Joe - author of article
tszming 15y ago
In fact, Mirah implementation also available: https://github.com/sattvik/decafbot/tree/master/jvm-lang/mirah/src/decafbot/mirah https://github.com/sattvik/decafbot/tree/master/jvm-lang/mir...

50 points by kmccarth 15y ago

There are a few obstacles to easily using Scala on Android. Namely, the Scala standard library is too large to be easily "dexed" by the Android toolchain. Using Proguard or a similar treeshaker removes unused classes, but it's a bit of a hassle to set up manually. However, I've found that using the SBT Android plugin (https://github.com/jberkel/android-plugin https://github.com/jberkel/android-plugin) makes the entire process relatively painless. I recommend starting with that approach.

jbrechtel 15y ago
Yea, setting that up by hand can be a PITA. jberkel's plugin helps out a lot. Also, if you're interested in using Robolectric with Scala then this helps (warning, shameless plug) https://github.com/jbrechtel/robospecs https://github.com/jbrechtel/robospecs
pufuwozu 15y ago
I wrote a small tutorial on manually setting up Android with Scala: http://brianmckenna.org/blog/minimalist_android_scala_env http://brianmckenna.org/blog/minimalist_android_scala_env Enabling ProGuard is done by adding the following to build.xml: <target name="-debug-obfuscation-check"> <property name="proguard.enabled" value="true" /> <path id="out.dex.jar.input.ref" /> </target> Also add "proguard.config=proguard.cfg" to default.properties and "-dontwarn" to proguard.cfg.

EricButler 15y ago

I'm excited to try Scala for Android development but haven't had the time to figure out a new build system, etc. I hope it'll eventually be integrated into Intellij IDEA.

jbrechtel 15y ago
In case you're interested....I've written a few articles detailing getting up and running with Scala+Android+IntelliJ. http://bit.ly/msXMZN http://bit.ly/msXMZN http://bit.ly/lIDHRs http://bit.ly/lIDHRs and http://bit.ly/kgiAqZ http://bit.ly/kgiAqZ

GrooveStomp 15y ago

> Ultimately, more Scala used means more modern Android development. One would assume that Google would have a vested interested in at least aiding the Boston Android’s project, but they have yet to send a representative to a meet-up thus far. I find this to be a pretty naive statement. I've never once thought of Scala on Android as being anywhere near official, and I don't see why Google would jump on the chance to officially support it. Now, having a Googler show up of their own volition - that's a different matter altogether. Maybe there just aren't any interested Googlers in the area?

joeburke 15y ago

"generally easier to understand" "Ultimately, more Scala used means more modern Android development. " The author has a clear chip on his/her shoulder and is making statements that are pretty controversial, even within the Scala community itself. Thinking that using a certain language automatically leads to "more modern development" (whatever that means) is pretty ludicrous in itself. If language advocates spent less time advocating and more time actually producing the cool stuff they claim that their language enables, they might actually get heard.

kmccarth 15y ago
well said, Joe - author of article

tszming 15y ago

In fact, Mirah implementation also available: https://github.com/sattvik/decafbot/tree/master/jvm-lang/mirah/src/decafbot/mirah https://github.com/sattvik/decafbot/tree/master/jvm-lang/mir...