The Scala Toolkit is a new initiative by Scala Center and VirtusLab designed from the cognitive perspective. Its goal is to make the Scala language batteries-included and well-suited for newcomers and simple problems. In this talk, we will dive into the state of research on the neurocognitive perspective on programming. This insight helped us design the Scala Toolkit and decide its future steps. It can be surprisingly helpful and refreshing when designing new languages, building APIs, and just trying to write better code at your job. Moreover, it can deepen one’s understanding of the good practices in the programming world.

This talk aims to show the cognitive perspective on the programming process and how to apply it practically when designing languages, APIs, or just writing code at one’s job. I will show a cognitive model explaining how the programmer’s brain works with the code. This model is based on the current research, but is also tailored to the programmer’s practical perspective. Based on this model, I will derive rules and perspectives that help design and write better code. Some of them, such as immutability in programming, or Cognitive Dimensions in UX research, are already being applied in the industry. Nevertheless, I will shine a new light on them. I will also present the Scala Toolkit and how it aims to improve the Scala developers’ experience.