Scala Language Partial Functions Usage as a total function
Example
Partial functions are very common in idiomatic Scala. They are often used for their convenient case-based syntax to define total functions over traits:
sealed trait SuperType // `sealed` modifier allows inheritance within current build-unit only
case object A extends SuperType
case object B extends SuperType
case object C extends SuperType
val input: Seq[SuperType] = Seq(A, B, C)
input.map {
case A => 5
case _ => 10
} // Seq(5, 10, 10)
This saves the additional syntax of a match statement in a regular anonymous function. Compare:
input.map { item =>
item match {
case A => 5
case _ => 10
}
} // Seq(5, 10, 10)
It is also frequently used to perform a parameter decomposition using pattern matching, when a tuple or a case class is passed to a function:
val input = Seq("A" -> 1, "B" -> 2, "C" -> 3)
input.map { case (a, i) =>
a + i.toString
} // Seq("A1", "B2", "C3")
