Scala: how to merge a collection of Maps

Well, you could do:

mapList reduce (_ ++ _)

except for the special requirement for collision.

Since you do have that special requirement, perhaps the best would be doing something like this (2.8):

def combine(m1: Map, m2: Map): Map = {
  val k1 = Set(m1.keysIterator.toList: _*)
  val k2 = Set(m2.keysIterator.toList: _*)
  val intersection = k1 & k2

  val r1 = for(key <- intersection) yield (key -> (m1(key) + m2(key)))
  val r2 = m1.filterKeys(!intersection.contains(_)) ++ m2.filterKeys(!intersection.contains(_)) 
  r2 ++ r1
}

You can then add this method to the map class through the Pimp My Library pattern, and use it in the original example instead of "++":

class CombiningMap(m1: Map[Symbol, Double]) {
  def combine(m2: Map[Symbol, Double]) = {
    val k1 = Set(m1.keysIterator.toList: _*)
    val k2 = Set(m2.keysIterator.toList: _*)
    val intersection = k1 & k2
    val r1 = for(key <- intersection) yield (key -> (m1(key) + m2(key)))
    val r2 = m1.filterKeys(!intersection.contains(_)) ++ m2.filterKeys(!intersection.contains(_))
    r2 ++ r1
  }
}

// Then use this:
implicit def toCombining(m: Map[Symbol, Double]) = new CombiningMap(m)

// And finish with:
mapList reduce (_ combine _)

While this was written in 2.8, so keysIterator becomes keys for 2.7, filterKeys might need to be written in terms of filter and map, & becomes **, and so on, it shouldn't be too different.

How about this one:

def mergeMap[A, B](ms: List[Map[A, B]])(f: (B, B) => B): Map[A, B] =
  (Map[A, B]() /: (for (m <- ms; kv <- m) yield kv)) { (a, kv) =>
    a + (if (a.contains(kv._1)) kv._1 -> f(a(kv._1), kv._2) else kv)
  }

val ms = List(Map("hello" -> 1.1, "world" -> 2.2), Map("goodbye" -> 3.3, "hello" -> 4.4))
val mm = mergeMap(ms)((v1, v2) => v1 + v2)

println(mm) // prints Map(hello -> 5.5, world -> 2.2, goodbye -> 3.3)

And it works in both 2.7.5 and 2.8.0.