Question

For example see the following

http://www.artima.com/pins1ed/functional-objects.html

The code uses

val oneHalf = new Rational(1, 2) 

Is there a way to do something like

val oneHalf: Rational = 1/2

Answer 1

I would recommend using some other operator (say \) for your Rational literal, as / is already defined on all numeric types as a division operation.

scala> case class Rational(num: Int, den: Int) {
     |   override def toString = num + " \\ " + den
     | }
defined class Rational

scala> implicit def rationalLiteral(num: Int) = new {
     |   def \(den: Int) = Rational(num, den)
     | }
rationalLiteral: (num: Int)java.lang.Object{def \(den: Int): Rational}

scala> val oneHalf = 1 \ 2
oneHalf: Rational = 1 \ 2