7 Free Scala Courses & Tutorials to learn Functional Programming

The following are my top free Scala courses and tutorials from Udemy, Coursera, and YouTube to help you learn functional programming.

Yash Tiwari
Quick Code
7 min readSep 13, 2022

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Learn Scala

Everyone knows the most powerful programming languages like Java, Python, C sharp, etc. However, they all come with specific issues that developers have gotten familiar with over time. For example, Java is one of the most powerful programming languages that allows you to build stunning applications from mobile to web development.

However, there’s one issue with Java. Java developers know that Java requires writing a lot of boilerplate code. Now you might say, it’s alright, we can write extra lines. Well, the more lines you write, the greater the likelihood of bugs. So, what’s the solution?

That is where Scala comes in. Scala is one of the most capable yet underrated programming languages, similar to Java. It requires less code, and you don’t have to write boiler code and worry about bugs. Its most impressive feature is that it runs on the JVM, sharing the same concept as Java. In addition, it provides functional styling.

Therefore, I have compiled this list of free Scala courses & tutorials for Java developers or anyone who wants to explore and learn Scala. Also, if you wish to invest in paid Scala tutorials, you can do that too.

List of Top Free Scala Tutorials

Remember that these free Scala courses may turn into paid ones again in the future, so put them on your list to avoid paying for them later. Without further ado, let’s go!

1. Escalate Scala Training — Setup Instructions — [Udemy]

Scala Training

If you are interested in setting up a Scala development environment or are taking the Scala Applied or advanced courses, this course is for you.

In this Scala tutorial, you will:

  • Set up your development machine to work with Scala.
  • Use an IDE to create and edit Scala language projects.

This tutorial will prepare you for following the Scala Applied and Advanced courses from Escalate Software, including running the activation tool, learning Scala, and a Scala IDE such as IntelliJ IDEA.

It is the best free Scala course on Udemy with a 4.3 out of 5-course rating and a 14-minute length. Remember, you won’t get a certificate upon completion since this is a free Udemy course.

2. Functional Programming Principles in Scala — [Coursera]

The industry is becoming increasingly reliant on functional programming. Scala has become the main programming language for many applications, fueling this trend.

  • Understand the principles of functional programming.
  • Design immutable data structures.
  • Integrate functional programming with objects and classes.
  • Write purely functional programs, using recursion, pattern matching, and higher-order functions.

Scala combines both functional programming and object-oriented programming in a convenient package. As well as working seamlessly with Java, it also supports Javascript. Apache Spark, Kafka, and Akka are among the frameworks that use Scala as their implementation language. Sites like Twitter, Netflix, Zalando, and Coursera rely on it.

This course introduces the functional programming style and teaches you how to use it in your daily programming tasks, such as implementing business logic or modeling business domains. In addition, you will learn about proofs of invariants and how to trace execution symbolically.

Programming experience of at least one year is required. Ideally, you should have experience with Java or C#, but other languages such as C/C++, Python, Javascript, or Ruby will also suffice. It is recommended that you have some familiarity with the command line.

It is a top-rated free Scala course on Coursera with a 4.8 out of 5-course rating and a 56-hour length. Auditing this course is free, but paying will give you more benefits.

3. Scala at Light Speed — [Udemy]

Scala Overview

Get an overview of what the Scala language can do with this free course from Rock the JVM. This course will help you become familiar with Scala’s foundations in just a few hours.

In this Scala tutorial, you will learn:

  • Scala fundamentals
  • Object-oriented principles in Scala
  • Functional programming principles in Scala.
  • Managing threads
  • Foundations of implicit.

During this course, you will learn how to write essential code, think and approach problems, deal with threads, and use some “magical” structures that you won’t find anywhere else in the language. Additionally, you will make some analogies with existing programming languages to better understand how to write essential code, think and approach problems, and use threads.

It is the best free Scala course on Udemy with a 4.7 out of 5-course rating and a 2-hour length. Remember, you won’t get a certificate upon completion since this is a free Udemy course.

4. Effective Programming in Scala — [Coursera]

This informative, hands-on course combines functional programming with object-oriented programming to help you improve your programming skills. Additionally, you will learn about the standard library and common code patterns.

In this Scala tutorial, you will:

  • Use Scala idioms to model business domains and implement business logic.
  • Develop a solid understanding of the language, allowing you to read and understand codebases written in Scala.
  • Acquire best practices and standard patterns used in the real world.
  • Work with asynchronous computations, handle failures, and manipulate recursive data structures comfortably.

This course teaches you how to use Scala to solve common programming challenges such as modeling business domains, simplifying complex problems, manipulating data, and running parallel programs.

Furthermore, you will learn how to handle errors, write tests, and leverage a productive development environment as you write high-quality code that scales to large applications.

It is a top-rated free Scala course on Coursera with a 4.7 out of 5-course rating and a 49-hour length. Auditing this course is free, but paying will give you more benefits.

5. Learn Scala Programming Language from Scratch — [Eduonix]

Introduction to Scala

Learn Scala and how it works with Java in this comprehensive course on Scala. The scope of this Scala tutorial is not only to explain why Scala is so popular and its benefits but also to explain its fundamentals and how it works in the Java Virtual Machine.

Topics in this Scala tutorial include:

  • JVM Languages
  • Scala Development Environments
  • Scala Syntax and Semantics
  • Scala Functions with Collections
  • Concurrent Scala
  • Scala Application Example Use Cases

In addition, it will cover Scala syntax, Scala Concurrency, the Akka Framework, and Object Oriented syntax. Additionally, it will discuss the best practices of Scala when designing an application near the end of the course.

It is the best free Scala course on Eduonix with a 4.6 out of 5-course rating and a 6-hour length.

6. Big Data Analysis with Scala and Spark — [Coursera]

This course aims to show how data parallel can be extended to the distributed case using Spark throughout the course. As we discuss Spark’s programming model in detail, we’ll pay careful attention to how it differs from familiar programming models, such as shared-memory parallel collections or sequential Scala collections.

Topics in this Scala tutorial include:

  • Getting Started + Spark Basics
  • Reduction Operations & Distributed Key-Value Pairs
  • Partitioning and Shuffling
  • Structured data: SQL, Dataframes, and Datasets

As a result of hands-on exercises in Spark and Scala, we’ll find out when latency and network communication should be taken into account, as well as how they can be addressed effectively for improved performance.

It is a top-rated free Scala course on Coursera with a 4.7 out of 5-course rating and a 28-hour length. Auditing this course is free, but paying will give you more benefits.

7. Scala Tutorial Full Course — [YouTube]

Scala Tutorial

This Scala tutorial from Telusko will help you learn Scala with ease. You will start with an introduction to the programming language. Then, you will learn the similarities between Scala and Java and why developers prefer Scala. It is a well-detailed course to learn Scala on YouTube.

Topics in this Scala tutorial include:

  • What is Scala and Why to Learn Scala?
  • Scala Setup
  • Scala First Code
  • Scala Defining Variable using Var & Val
  • Class and Object in Scala
  • Creating Methods in Scala
  • List & Lambda Expression in Scala
  • List Reverse, Drop & Take
  • Scala Type Hierarchy
  • List of Complex Objects in Scala
  • Tuples in Scala

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