Scala: alternative List syntax (with square brackets, if possible) - list

Question

is there an alternative 'List' syntax in Scala?
Is it possible to define one aditional class/type/operator* called '[' and ']'?
I know 'square brackets' are used to indicate Type, but they are perfect to the repetitive task of declaring lists.
A ';' or '?' would be good also, as a last resource.
Thanks
obs.:
after much search the only alternative I found was to use 'cons':
val list = 1 :: 2 :: 3 :: Nil
but it doesn't reduce any key typing at all.
I am still learning those things in Scala
EDIT:
Just to clarify: Performance is not a priority in my case. And yes, shift is not welcome. :P
Motivation behind the scenes: I like Haskell style, but cannot use it directly with Java.
EDIT 2:
Final solution based on both Rex Kerr solutions
implementing object Types:
package a
object Types {
type \[z] = List[z]
implicit def make_lists[A](z: A) = new ListMaker(z)
class ListMaker[A](a0: A) {
private[this] val buffer = List.newBuilder[A]
buffer += a0
def \(z: A) = {
buffer += z;
this
}
def \\ = buffer.result
}
}
using object Types:
package a
import a.Types._
object Whatever {
def listInListOut (l: \[Int]) = {
1\2\\
}
}

Answer 1

[ and ] are reserved symbols in Scala which are used for type annotations. You can't use them for lists. ; is reserved for end of line. You could use ? in many cases, but it would be awkward.
I recommend that you learn to use the :: notation (and get used to typing the : symbol fast twice in succession) because it really makes the list operations visually clear, plus it is a great syntactic reminder that lists are weird because you put things on the head of the list.
However, if you cannot tolerate this, your best option is probably to define a one-letter list symbol. For example,
List(1,2,3,4)
is a list of the numbers from 1 to 4. What if you could just type L instead of List? It turns out that you can, since this is not a fancy constructor or static method, but a singleton companion object to the class List. So you just
val L = List
L(1,2,3,4)
and you are just one character worse off than your suggestion of brackets.

Answer 2

Define
def l[A](a:A*) = List(a:_*)
Then you can do
l(1,2,3)
which is only one character more than [1,2,3]

Answer 3

I can't help pointing out another way to go here for lists where all the elements are the same type, if you really hate the shift key and don't care if other people can understand your code:
class ListMaker[A](a0: A) {
private[this] val buffer = List.newBuilder[A]
buffer += a0
def \(a: A) = { buffer += a; this }
def \\ = buffer.result
}
implicit def make_lists[A](a: A) = new ListMaker(a)
Now you can list to your heart's content, without ever touching the shift key!
scala> val a = 1\2\3\4\5\\
a: List[Int] = List(1, 2, 3, 4, 5)
scala> val b = 'a'\'b'\\
b: List[Char] = List(a, b)
scala> val c = false\true\false\false\false\false\true\\
c: List[Boolean] = List(false, true, false, false, false, false, true)
This uses exactly as many characters as brackets would. (It doesn't nest well, however.)

Answer 4

Welcome to Scala version 2.10.0.r24777-b20110419020105 (Java HotSpot(TM) Client VM, Java 1.6.0
Type in expressions to have them evaluated.
Type :help for more information.
scala> class LM[A](x: A) {
| def \(y: A) = List(x,y)
| }
defined class LM
scala> implicit def a2l[A](x: A): LM[A] = new LM(x)
a2l: [A](x: A)LM[A]
scala> class LX[A](xs: List[A]) {
| def \(y: A) = xs:::List(y)
| }
defined class LX
scala> implicit def l2lx[A](xs: List[A]): LX[A] = new LX(xs)
l2lx: [A](xs: List[A])LX[A]
scala> 1\2
res0: List[Int] = List(1, 2)
scala> 1\2\3
res1: List[Int] = List(1, 2, 3)
scala>

Answer 5

Not exactly an alternative syntax, but it is by far the most portable solution:
In Intellij IDEA it is possible to create "Live Templates";
press Ctrl+Alt+s; search for "template"; go to "Live Templates" section;
just add one new item named "l" inside Scala entry, add a random description and the following code:
List($END$)
Press Enter, go to the editor, press L followed by Tab.
It is the end of your typing pains.
Do the same for Arrays.