Std Lib

When calling methods and functions, you can use the name of the variables explicitly in the call, like so:

def printName(first: String, last: String) = {
  println(first + " " + last)
}

printName("John", "Smith") // Prints "John Smith"
printName(first = "John", last = "Smith") // Prints "John Smith"
printName(last = "Smith", first = "John") // Prints "John Smith"

Note that once you are using parameter names in your calls, the order doesn't matter, so long as all parameters are named. This feature works well with default parameter values:

def printName(first: String = "John", last: String = "Smith") = {
  println(first + " " + last)
}
printName(last = "Jones") // Prints "John Jones"

Given the classes below:

class WithoutClassParameters() = {
def addColors(red: Int, green: Int, blue: Int) = {
(red, green, blue)
}

def addColorsWithDefaults(red: Int = 0, green: Int = 0, blue: Int = 0) = {
(red, green, blue)
}
}

class WithClassParameters(val defaultRed: Int, val defaultGreen: Int, val defaultBlue: Int) = {
def addColors(red: Int, green: Int, blue: Int) = {
(red + defaultRed, green + defaultGreen, blue + defaultBlue)
}

def addColorsWithDefaults(red: Int = 0, green: Int = 0, blue: Int = 0) = {
(red + defaultRed, green + defaultGreen, blue + defaultBlue)
}
}

class WithClassParametersInClassDefinition(val defaultRed: Int = 0, val defaultGreen: Int = 255, val defaultBlue: Int = 100) {
def addColors(red: Int, green: Int, blue: Int) = {
(red + defaultRed, green + defaultGreen, blue + defaultBlue)
}

def addColorsWithDefaults(red: Int = 0, green: Int = 0, blue: Int = 0) = {
(red + defaultRed, green + defaultGreen, blue + defaultBlue)
}
}

You can specify arguments in any order if you use their names:

val me = new WithoutClassParameters()

// What happens if you change the order of these parameters? Nothing.
val myColor = me.addColors(green = 0, red = 255, blue = 0)

myColor should equal((res0, res1, res2))

You can default arguments if you leave them off:

val me = new WithoutClassParameters()
val myColor = me.addColorsWithDefaults(green = 255)

myColor should equal((res0, res1, res2))

You can access class parameters and specify arguments in any order if you use their names:

val me = new WithClassParameters(40, 50, 60)
val myColor = me.addColors(green = 50, red = 60, blue = 40)

myColor should equal((res0, res1, res2))

You can access class parameters and default arguments if you leave them off:

val me = new WithClassParameters(10, 20, 30)
val myColor = me.addColorsWithDefaults(green = 70)

myColor should equal((res0, res1, res2))

You can default class parameters and have default arguments too:

val me = new WithClassParametersInClassDefinition()
val myColor = me.addColorsWithDefaults(green = 70)

myColor should equal((res0, res1, res2))

Default parameters can be functions too:

def reduce(a: Int, f: (Int, Int) => Int = _ + _): Int = f(a, a)

reduce(5) should equal(res0)
reduce(5, _ * _) should equal(res1)