A.5. Implicits

Another powerful feature of Scala is known as implicits. Let’s first look at the notion of something being implicit and consider what this actually means. The dictionary definition of implicit is implied though not plainly expressed, and this pretty much matches the Scala meaning: you are not explicitly applying something in your code; rather, the compiler is applying it for you. The invocation or conversion is not explicit; rather, it is implicit.

Implicits come in two primary forms: implicit conversions and implicit parameters. Let’s look at implicit conversions first.