scala anonymous function

In Scala, an anonymous function is a function that does not have a name. It is also known as a lambda function or a function literal. Anonymous functions are a convenient way to define a function inline, without the need to explicitly name it.

The syntax for defining an anonymous function in Scala is as follows:

val functionName = (parameters) => { 
   // function body
}

The val keyword is used to declare a new variable that will hold the anonymous function. functionName is the name of the variable, which can be used to refer to the function later.

The (parameters) section specifies the parameters that the anonymous function takes. These parameters are similar to the parameters of a regular function, and you can define multiple parameters by separating them with commas.

The => symbol separates the parameter list from the function body. The function body is enclosed in curly braces {} and contains the code that will be executed when the function is called.

Here's an example of an anonymous function that takes two parameters and returns their sum:

val sum = (a: Int, b: Int) => {
  a + b
}

In this example, the anonymous function takes two parameters a and b of type Int and returns their sum. The function can be called using the variable name sum followed by the parameter values:

val result = sum(3, 4) // result = 7

Anonymous functions are often used in Scala for concise and expressive code. They can be passed as arguments to higher-order functions, such as map, filter, or fold, or used in other contexts where functions are expected.