Cats is one of the most widely used functional libraries in Scala, and also one of the most intimidating: functors, applicatives, semigroupals, and monads tend to turn into a wall of jargon before anything clicks. This course exists because that wall isn't actually necessary — it's a matter of the right sequence and structure, not raw difficulty.
It's a hands-on, plain-spoken course built for Scala engineers who already have Advanced Scala-level knowledge, walking through Cats feature by feature without unnecessary theory or jargon thrown in before you're ready for it. By the end, across 33 lessons, the goal is being able to reach for any part of Cats confidently and use it productively in real Scala code.
But it doesn't have to be. After lots of pain, I understood how this library can be fun to learn AND write with, IF - and that's a big if - you follow a clear structure and a smooth sequence. The bad news is that's tough to make. The good news is that I think (there's a good chance that) you have it in front of you.
You're looking at the only course on the web that doesn't cost an arm and a leg (and a real cat) and will get you through everything you need to know to be productive. Down to earth, hands-on, no psychobabble, and no F[_] bombs until you're ready.
This course is for Scala engineers at least at the level of the Advanced Scala course. By the end of this course, you'll be able to use any Cats feature without any problems.
