I learned incrementally. At first I used Scala just for properties. It&#x27;s 2016, Java8 and we still don&#x27;t have properties? W--T--F! (unless you count JavaFX).<p>Over time, I learned slowly to use vals or var, that I don&#x27;t need to initialize a return value and ship it at the end, and how to build up mapping.<p>The syntax; I agree with you totally. I just got hired by a company doing Scala and OMG that codebase. I&#x27;m seeing all kinds of constructs I haven&#x27;t used yet.<p>I still prefer Scala over Java, but there is a high cost to entry.