aside: for ~10 years (1995-2005) there wasn't a printf in java! There were numerous printf libraries for sale( the most popular one was http://sharkysoft.com/so

aside: for ~10 years (1995-2005) there wasn't a printf in java! There were numerous printf libraries for sale( the most popular one was http://sharkysoft.com/software/java/lava3/printf/ http://sharkysoft.com/software/java/lava3/printf/), but jdk itself didn't have a built-in printf until JDK 1.5, when it was introduced via java.util.Formatter ( http://www.docjar.com/html/api/java/io/PrintStream.java.html http://www.docjar.com/html/api/java/io/PrintStream.java.html) As a former Sun consultant, the most common question I had to fend from customers during those 10 years was the lack of a printf. Fortunately, Odersky has much better taste & Scala shipped with a printf on day 1 in Predef.scala, via Console(https://github.com/scala/scala/blob/v2.10.1/src/library/scala/Console.scala https://github.com/scala/scala/blob/v2.10.1/src/library/scal... )