path: root/src/library/rootdoc.txt

This is the documentation for the Scala standard library.

== Package structure ==

The [[scala]] package contains core types.

scala.[[scala.collection]] and its subpackages contain a collections framework with higher-order functions for manipulation. Both [[scala.collection.immutable]] and [[scala.collection.mutable]] data structures are available, with immutable as the default. The [[scala.collection.parallel]] collections provide automatic parallel operation.

Other important packages include:

  - scala.[[scala.actors]] - Concurrency framework inspired by Erlang.
  - scala.[[scala.io]] - Input and output.
  - scala.[[scala.math]] - Basic math functions and additional numeric types.
  - scala.[[scala.sys]] - Interaction with other processes and the operating system.
  - scala.util.[[scala.util.matching]] - Pattern matching in text using regular expressions.
  - scala.util.parsing.[[scala.util.parsing.combinator]] - Composable combinators for parsing.
  - scala.[[scala.xml]] - XML parsing, manipulation, and serialization.

Many other packages exist.  See the complete list on the left.

== Automatic imports ==

Identifiers in the scala package and the [[scala.Predef]] object are always in scope by default.

Some of these identifiers are type aliases provided as shortcuts to commonly used classes.  For example, `List` is an alias for scala.collection.immutable.[[scala.collection.immutable.List]].

Other aliases refer to classes provided by the underlying platform.  For example, on the JVM, `String` is an alias for `java.lang.String`.