Scala giving me "illegal start of definition"
ScalaScala Problem Overview
I'm trying to get started with Scala and cannot get out of the starting gate.
A file consisting of the line
package x
gives me
> error: illegal start of definition
Regardless of what x is and regardless of where I put the file (I had a theory that I had to place the file in a directory hierarchy to match the package definition, but no). I get the same error with the example code from the web site and with the REPL.
Scala Solutions
Solution 1 - Scala
It looks like you're trying to declare the package membership in a Scala script (run using the scala command) or in the REPL.
Only files defining just classes and objects which are compiled with scalac may be defined as belonging to a package.
When you run code in a script or a REPL session, behind the scenes it is actually compiled inside a method of an object, in which scope a package declaration wouldn't be legal.
Solution 2 - Scala
Since Scala 2.11.0-M7 you can use :paste -raw (fix for issue SI-5299). This option allows defining packages in the REPL:
scala> :paste -raw
// Entering paste mode (ctrl-D to finish)
package Foo
class Bar
// Exiting paste mode, now interpreting.
scala> import Foo._
import Foo._
scala> new Bar
res1: Foo.Bar = Foo.Bar@3ee2cf81
Solution 3 - Scala
I had the same problem. I've resolved it by importing import packageName._ instead of declaring a worksheet in the package.
Solution 4 - Scala
I had the same issue when I was executing scala program eg. "Game.scala" from terminal.
Compiling part was ok, error was shown when running the code, see below
ā Wrong:
user@pc:~$scala Game.scala
/home/$USER/.../src/ul/org/bloxorz/Game.scala:1: error: illegal start of definition
package ul.org.bloxorz
Scala code should be invoked from terminal pretty much the same as Java code (you should give it a fully qualified class name and not the file name like I did in first example)
ā Correct:
user@pc:~$scala ul.org.bloxorz.Game
Solution 5 - Scala
I don't get this error. How are you compiling this? And, by the way, what web site? As for REPL, it doesn't accept packages. Packages are only for compiled code.