Best way to parse command-line parameters?

scopt/scopt

val parser = new scopt.OptionParser[Config]("scopt") {
  head("scopt", "3.x")

  opt[Int]('f', "foo") action { (x, c) =>
    c.copy(foo = x) } text("foo is an integer property")

  opt[File]('o', "out") required() valueName("<file>") action { (x, c) =>
    c.copy(out = x) } text("out is a required file property")

  opt[(String, Int)]("max") action { case ((k, v), c) =>
    c.copy(libName = k, maxCount = v) } validate { x =>
    if (x._2 > 0) success
    else failure("Value <max> must be >0") 
  } keyValueName("<libname>", "<max>") text("maximum count for <libname>")

  opt[Unit]("verbose") action { (_, c) =>
    c.copy(verbose = true) } text("verbose is a flag")

  note("some notes.\n")

  help("help") text("prints this usage text")

  arg[File]("<file>...") unbounded() optional() action { (x, c) =>
    c.copy(files = c.files :+ x) } text("optional unbounded args")

  cmd("update") action { (_, c) =>
    c.copy(mode = "update") } text("update is a command.") children(
    opt[Unit]("not-keepalive") abbr("nk") action { (_, c) =>
      c.copy(keepalive = false) } text("disable keepalive"),
    opt[Boolean]("xyz") action { (x, c) =>
      c.copy(xyz = x) } text("xyz is a boolean property")
  )
}
// parser.parse returns Option[C]
parser.parse(args, Config()) map { config =>
  // do stuff
} getOrElse {
  // arguments are bad, usage message will have been displayed
}

The above generates the following usage text:

scopt 3.x
Usage: scopt [update] [options] [<file>...]

  -f <value> | --foo <value>
        foo is an integer property
  -o <file> | --out <file>
        out is a required file property
  --max:<libname>=<max>
        maximum count for <libname>
  --verbose
        verbose is a flag
some notes.

  --help
        prints this usage text
  <file>...
        optional unbounded args

Command: update
update is a command.

  -nk | --not-keepalive
        disable keepalive    
  --xyz <value>
        xyz is a boolean property

This is what I currently use. Clean usage without too much baggage. (Disclaimer: I now maintain this project)

There's also JCommander (disclaimer: I created it):

object Main {
  object Args {
    @Parameter(
      names = Array("-f", "--file"),
      description = "File to load. Can be specified multiple times.")
    var file: java.util.List[String] = null
  }

  def main(args: Array[String]): Unit = {
    new JCommander(Args, args.toArray: _*)
    for (filename <- Args.file) {
      val f = new File(filename)
      printf("file: %s\n", f.getName)
    }
  }
}

Here's a scala command line parser that is easy to use. It automatically formats help text, and it converts switch arguments to your desired type. Both short POSIX, and long GNU style switches are supported. Supports switches with required arguments, optional arguments, and multiple value arguments. You can even specify the finite list of acceptable values for a particular switch. Long switch names can be abbreviated on the command line for convenience. Similar to the option parser in the Ruby standard library.

I like the clean look of this code... gleaned from a discussion here: http://www.scala-lang.org/old/node/4380

object ArgParser {
  val usage = """
Usage: parser [-v] [-f file] [-s sopt] ...
Where: -v   Run verbosely
       -f F Set input file to F
       -s S Set Show option to S
"""

  var filename: String = ""
  var showme: String = ""
  var debug: Boolean = false
  val unknown = "(^-[^\\s])".r

  val pf: PartialFunction[List[String], List[String]] = {
    case "-v" :: tail => debug = true; tail
    case "-f" :: (arg: String) :: tail => filename = arg; tail
    case "-s" :: (arg: String) :: tail => showme = arg; tail
    case unknown(bad) :: tail => die("unknown argument " + bad + "\n" + usage)
  }

  def main(args: Array[String]) {
    // if there are required args:
    if (args.length == 0) die()
    val arglist = args.toList
    val remainingopts = parseArgs(arglist,pf)

    println("debug=" + debug)
    println("showme=" + showme)
    println("filename=" + filename)
    println("remainingopts=" + remainingopts)
  }

  def parseArgs(args: List[String], pf: PartialFunction[List[String], List[String]]): List[String] = args match {
    case Nil => Nil
    case _ => if (pf isDefinedAt args) parseArgs(pf(args),pf) else args.head :: parseArgs(args.tail,pf)
  }

  def die(msg: String = usage) = {
    println(msg)
    sys.exit(1)
  }

}