To reiterate OP's point about scala, in my idiomatic scala, I'd use a 3rd technique: def ABSOrSeven(maybeNumber: Option[Int]): Int = maybeNumber match {

To reiterate OP's point about scala, in my idiomatic scala, I'd use a 3rd technique: def ABSOrSeven(maybeNumber: Option[Int]): Int = maybeNumber match { case Some(int) => Math.abs(int) case None => 7 } Somewhat more verbose but I think is the most clear and should have fewer function calls than the getOrElse version and has no unsafe operations like the (safely guarded) `maybeNumber.get` call. The point though is that the author is correct that scala provides too many ways of doing the same thing such that disagreement is inevitable.