that would bring us down to a single step (IDE installation).
We already have something this simple, or very close. If we just focus on writing, compiling, and running code, you only need IntelliJ with the Scala plugin. It’s been a while since I installed it, but I believe it comes with its own JDK and fetches Scala for you. You create a Scala project. Not an SBT, Gradle, or other project; a native IntelliJ Scala project. You create a source file in the src directory and off you go. This seems perfect for a beginner.