Scala programming is a general-purpose computer language that supports both object-oriented and functional styles of programming on a larger scale. Scala is a strong static type of programming language and is influenced by the Java programming language. One of the best similarities of Scala and Java is that you can code Scala just the same way that you code Java. It is also possible to use a lot of Java libraries within Scala along with many of its third-party libraries.
Scala has become one of the most in-demand technology among developers and is working its way through today’s technology. Learn about Apache Spark from Cloudera Spark Training and excel in your career as a Scala Specialist. Here are some of the topics which would give you a brief explanation of Scala.
Why Scala?
The biggest strength of Scala is its flexibility in defining abstractions. One of the important components of the Scala language is Scala IDE (Scala Integrated Development Environment) and it is used to connect to the Eclipse Java tool. This way the Eclipse features can explore with the Scala IDE. Scala is designed in such a way that it can inter-operate well with JRE (Java Runtime Environment) and the .NET Framework.
The code written in Scala is easier to test and reuse; the parallelization becomes simpler, and there are lesser bugs in the whole program. Scala programming follows a top-down approach; each of the programs is broken down into multiple chunks and each can be processed in parallel thus speeding up the process and also improving the efficiency.
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What is Scala?
Scala programming language is an object-oriented language with functional programming language features that are highly scalable. It is named after its feature of ‘scalability’ which separates it from other programming languages. It is designed to express common programming patterns in a more elegant, concise, and type-safe manner. Scala is a pure object-oriented programming language (in the sense that every value is an object) which provides the features of functional languages (in the sense that every function is a value) as well.
Developed by the German Computer Scientist, Martin Odersky, the first version of Scala was launched in the year 2003, and it is running successfully since then.
‘We’ve found that Scala has enabled us to deliver things faster with less code. It’s reinvigorated the team’ – Graham Tackley, The Guardian
Comparison Between Scala and Java
There is a simple question that every developer should ask, why should he/she go for Scala instead of Java? The following comparison will help you make your decision:
| Java | Scala |
| Complex syntax | Simple syntax |
| Rewriting is needed | Rewriting is not required |
| Dynamic in nature | Statically-typed |
| No assurance of bug-free codes | Assurance of lesser defects |
Scala and Java are two of the most important programming languages in today’s world. Though there are a lot of similarities between the two, there are much more differences between them.
Scala, when compared to Java, is relatively a new language. It is a machine-compiled language, whereas Java is object oriented. Scala has enhanced code readability and conciseness. It has the facility to work in a multi-core architecture environment. The code that is written in Java can be written in Scala in half the number of lines.
Having outlined all these benefits of Scala over Java, you must have gotten a clear picture of why it is trending nowadays at such a pace. Some of the larger companies of present time, such as, Twitter, LinkedIn, Intel, etc., rely on this programming language for developing large products.
What makes it so special over other available programming languages?
- It is object-oriented in nature.
- It includes functional programming features as well.
- It reflects concurrent and synchronized processing ability.
Advantages of Scala
No language is perfect for all use cases, but Scala brings a lot of advantages. Some of its desirable features are:
- The code is more concise, readable, and error-free.
- It is easy to write, compile, debug, and run the program in Scala, when compared to many other programming languages.
- Functional programming lets you approach the same problem in a different angle.
- It deploys concurrency which helps in parallelizing tasks.
- A lot of third-party libraries can be utilized for specific tasks. They can be added in the form of language constructs.
Applications of Scala
Some of the benefits of Scala is that it takes less time to code as compared to Java which needs more lines of code. Scala also has the benefit of strong tools and APIs that can be used for creating various applications.
Some of the ways in which Scala language is deployed in real-world scenarios are as follows:
- Writing web applications
- Applications working with streaming data
- Concurrency and distributed applications
- Parallel batch processing
- Analyzing data with Apache Spark
Scope of Scala
Since its inception, Scala has witnessed tremendous growth in its demand, which is sure to increase in the near future. Some of the statistics that support this hypothesis are mentioned below:
- Scala’s popularity has been constantly growing for the last two years. Almost 48 percent of the respondents would like to work with Scala this year – JAXenter survey
- Scala ranks high in salary surveys, coming up among the top 10 worldwide and sharing the first place in the US – Stack Overflow’s report
With these growing numbers, it can be claimed that Scala is one of the emerging technologies in the present scenario as major tech players are implementing it in their architecture.
Despite struggling among the established languages like Java and Python, Scala has made its own niche delivering high-end productivity and performance over the years.
Who should learn Scala?
With the growing requirement of professionals who are experts in both functional as well as object-oriented programming, Scala programmers and engineers will definitely make it big in this market. Moreover, if you are well-acquainted with Java, C++, C, and Python, Scala would be the perfect choice for you to improve your programming skills and get better career opportunities at the same time.
It is the best suited technology for aspiring software professionals, Data Scientists, Data Engineers, and Analytics professionals.
How will Scala help you in your career growth?
It is not only just an easy and less tedious programming language, but it is widely used by some of the biggest companies like Twitter, LinkedIn, Netflix, etc., for implementing their platforms. These companies have, in turn, contributed to the recent growth of Scala as a mainstream language.
Following trends will give you a clearer view:
- A report by TechCrunch shows that after Rust, Swift, and F#, Scala is the fourth most demanded programming language in the world of technology.
- According to IT Jobs Watch, UK, top 5 languages in terms of earnings (in Pound sterling) in February 2019 are:
This definitely gives a fair idea of why candidates should learn this programming language in order to grab the best job opportunities.
With the increase in demand for Scala, companies are passionately looking for professionals having a good command over this programming language, which signifies that numerous lucrative career opportunities are awaiting aspirants who are wishing to make their careers in the Big Data world.