E080: Expected Top Level Def

Note: This error was removed before Scala 3.0.0 was released and was never emitted by the Scala 3 compiler.

What it did

This error was triggered in early Dotty versions when the parser expected a top-level definition but found something else.

Example

// Invalid top-level statement
42

Error

-- [E080] Syntax Error: example.scala:1:0 --------------------------------------
1 |42
  |^^
  |Expected a toplevel definition

Explanation

At the top level of a Scala source file, only definitions are allowed:

• package declarations
• import statements
• class, trait, object, enum definitions
• type aliases
• val, var, def definitions
• extension definitions
• given definitions
• export clauses

Standalone expressions like 42 or println("hello") are not valid at the top level (outside of a definition).

This error was removed in commit 2e5df79218 (May 2021) as part of "Refactor remaining statement and declaration loops". The parser was refactored to provide different error handling for invalid top-level syntax.

To execute code at the top level, wrap it in a main method or object:

@main def run(): Unit =
  println("hello")

// Or
object Main:
  def main(args: Array[String]): Unit =
    println("hello")