Let's Teach LLMs to Write Great Scala! | Functional World #17

Join Kannupriya Kalra, org admin and mentor for Google Summer of Code with Scala Center, as she takes us on a deep dive into the world of Large Language Models - this time, through a Scala lens. While most AI tooling is built around Python, this talk makes the case for a better, type-safe alternative: Scala.

Discover how typed functional programming can unlock more reliable and maintainable LLM-powered applications. Learn from Kannupriya’s experience as the co-creator of LLM4S, the first Scala-first AI toolkit, and see how concepts like zero-shot prompting and agentic workflows come to life in a strongly-typed ecosystem.

Whether you're curious about building AI in Scala or looking for your next open-source project, this talk is your gateway to smarter, safer, and more scalable AI development.

What you’ll learn:
▶️ Why Scala is a strong alternative to Python for LLM development
▶️ Key concepts like zero-shot prompting and agentic feedback loops
▶️ How type safety improves AI reliability
▶️ A hands-on look at LLM4S, Scala’s own LLM framework
▶️ Lessons from the Python ecosystem and how Scala compares
Ways to contribute, collaborate, and grow with the Scala AI community

00:00 Intro
02:00 Kannupriya's introduction
5:45 Agenda
6:23 GenAI and LLMs
9:45 LLMs for writing software
12:41 SWE Agent Architecture v0
14:02 SWE Agent Architecture v1
17:17 SWE Agent Architecture v2 - Scala FTW
18:38 Measuring success - what is SWE Bech
20:08 How do we evaluate SWE agents?
22:03 Why Scala for LLM tool development?
22:28 Why Scala for LLM Code generation?
23:24 LLM4S - Bringing AI to Scala
25:09 Google Summer of Code
25:14 Conclusion & next steps
26:55 About the LLM4S Maintainers
28:10 Food for Thought: Dive Deeper
28:50 Q&A

From Kannupriya: We're also building a warm, welcoming Discord community for developers who want to get hands-on experience and grow alongside this open-source AI project. If you’re looking to contribute, learn, or simply be part of something exciting, we’d love to have you with us.

Join our community here: discord.com/invite/YF2cWQD4cg

Let’s fork it, learn Scala, and build AI together until we make it — with heart, hustle, and a lot of collaboration.

And if you want LLM4S to grow and you're excited about Scala and AI, show some love by starring the project on GitHub: github.com/llm4s/llm4s

This is more than just a talk; it’s an invitation to join and support a Scala-first AI innovation, the very first in the space. Together, we can shape the future of AI with Scala at the forefront.
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