title: Companion class requires import of Companion object methods and nested objects?
body: <p>I am looking at Akka related typesafe activator code and the following construct intrigued me:</p>
  
  <p>Companion object:</p>
  
  <pre><code>object MarkerActor {
    sealed trait MarkerMessage
    case object Stop extends MarkerMessage
     ..
    def objectMethod = print("hi from companion object")
  }
  </code></pre>
  
  <p>Companion class: it <em>imports</em> the companion object methods: </p>
  
  <pre><code>class MarkerActor extends Actor with ActorLogging {
      import MarkerActor._   // Comment this line to compare w or w/o import available
  
      objectMethod  // just to see if 'visible' within companion class
  
      override def receive = {
        case Stop =&gt; {
  </code></pre>
  
  <p>So.. that is a bit surprising.  Why is there not a "special relationship" between the companion class/object allowing the class to "see" the object methods automatically? </p>
  
  <p><strong>Update</strong>  I was a bit skeptical on this, and so went ahead and commented out the "import MarkerActor._"  This resulted in  "Symbol not found: Stop" errors in the Companion Class. So .. the import really is required.</p>