scala () vs {} definition of parameter invocation : <p>In the Coursera course "Functional Programming Principles in Scala" Week 1 sample assignment (<a href="https://www.coursera.org/learn/progfun1/programming/xIz9O/example-assignment" rel="nofollow noreferrer">https://www.coursera.org/learn/progfun1/programming/xIz9O/example-assignment</a>) Martin Ordersky mentions in one of his comments (on line 44 of the ListsSuites.scala test) that</p>

<pre><code>   * In Scala, it is allowed to pass an argument to a method using the block
   * syntax, i.e. `{ argument }` instead of parentheses `(argument)`.
</code></pre>

<p>So when assigning a function definition in Scala would it be equivalent to say:</p>

<pre><code>def foo = ()
</code></pre>

<p>and </p>

<pre><code>def foo = {}
</code></pre>
