Steps

1. How to define a simple class to represent a Donut object

Let's start with defining a simple class which will represent a Donut object with name and productCode properties. This example is a review from the previous tutorial on How To Create Classes And Objects In Scala.

Similar to the previous tutorial, let's also have a print() function which will print the name and productCode for a given donut object. If you are not familiar with creating functions in Scala, you can refer back to the Functions Tutorials.

println("Step 1: How to define a simple class to represent a Donut object")
class Donut(name: String, productCode: Long){

  def print = println(s"Donut name = $name, productCode = $productCode")

}

2. How to declare a companion object for the Donut class

A Companion Object is defined using the object keyword and the name of the object should be identical to the class name.

In addition, the companion object should define an apply() method which will be responsible for instantiating an instance of the given class.

Since the Donut class from Step 1 requires name and productCode properties, we are also providing similar input parameters to the apply() method as shown below.

println("\nStep 2: How to declare a companion object for the Donut class")
object Donut {

 def apply(name: String, productCode: Long): Donut = {
   new Donut(name, productCode)
 }

}

3. How to create instances of the Donut class using the companion object

With the companion object defined in Step 2 above, you can now create instances of the Donut class without having to use the new keyword.

println("\nStep 3: How to create instances of the Donut class using the companion object")
val glazedDonut = Donut("Glazed Donut", 1111)
val vanillaDonut = Donut("Vanilla Donut", 2222)

NOTE:

• Sure you could argue that the companion object is not really adding any special value other than not having to use the new keyword.
• However, in the next tutorial, I will show you how the apply() method of the companion object can be used as a factory for your class.

4. How to call the print function for each of the donut object

Next, let's call the print() function from our donut objects as shown below.

println("\nStep 4: How to call function on each Donut object")
glazedDonut.print
vanillaDonut.print

You should see the following output when you run your Scala application in IntelliJ:

Step 4: How to call the print function for each of the Donut object
Donut name = Glazed Donut, productCode = 1111
Donut name = Vanilla Donut, productCode = 2222