match Expressions, Part 1

Scala match expressions are fun, and a key element of functional programming. When you hear people talking about “pattern matching” in Scala, this is what they’re talking about.

A basic match expressions, like a switch statement in Java or C:

enum CrustSize:
    case Small, Medium, Large

import CrustSize.*
val crustSize = Small

// later in the code ...
crustSize match
    case Small => println("small crust size")
    case Medium => println("medium crust size")
    case Large => println("large crust size")

Note that that example is used for the side effect of printing, and does not return a value. A better approach is to return a result from a match expression:

// if you think about the previous example, you’re combining
//    two actions: creating a string, and printing.
//    creating a string is pure, printing is impure.
//    better to separate them.
// match is a true expression.
val rez = crustSize match
    case Small => "small crust size"
    case Medium => "medium crust size"
    case Large => "large crust size"

Multiple lines in a case statement

Use this approach when the expression on the right side of the => requires multiple lines:

val rez = crustSize match
    case Small =>
        // multiple lines here
        "small crust size"
    case Medium =>
        "medium crust size"
    case Large =>
        "large crust size"

Handling a default “catch all” case

Note that you don’t need a default, catch-all case in this example because the compiler is smart and knows that these are the only enum instances.

Writing functions with match expressions. Goals:

Write a function with match
Handle the catch-all case

def isTrue(a: Matchable): Boolean = a match     // VERSION 1
    case 0     => false
    case "0"   => false
    case ""    => false
    case false => false
    case _     => true

Multiple lines in a case statement

Handling a default “catch all” case

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