Scala grows with you. You can play with it by typing one-line expressions and observing the results. But you can also rely on it for large mission critical systems, as many companies, including Twitter, LinkedIn, or Intel do.
At the same time, Scala is the preferred workhorse language for many mission critical server systems. The generated code is on a par with Java’s and its precise typing means that many problems are caught at compile-time rather than after deployment.
At the root, the language’s scalability is the result of a careful integration of object-oriented and functional language concepts.
Object-Oriented:
Scala is a pure object-oriented language. Conceptually, each and every value is an object and every operation is a method-call. The language supports component architectures through classes and traits.
Many traditional design patterns in any other languages are already natively supported. Singletons are supported through the object definitions and visitors are supported through pattern matching.
Functional:
Even though its syntax is fairly conventional, Scala is also a full-blown functional language. It has everything you would expect, including first-class functions, a library with efficient immutable data structures, and a general preference of immutability over mutation.
Unlike with many traditional functional languages, Scala allows a gradual, easy migration to a more functional style. You can start to use it as a “Java without semicolons”. Over time, you can progress to gradually eliminate mutable state in your applications, phasing in safe functional composition patterns instead. As Scala programmers we believe that this progression is often a good idea. At the same time, Scala is not opinionated; you can use it with any style you prefer.
Seamless Java Inter-op
Scala runs on the JVM. Java and Scala classes can be freely mixed, no matter whether they reside in different projects or in the same. They can even mutually refer to each other, the Scala compiler contains a subset of a Java compiler to make sense of such recursive dependencies.
Java libraries, frameworks and tools are all available. Build tools like ant or maven, IDEs like Eclipse, IntelliJ, or Netbeans, frameworks like Spring or Hibernate all work seamlessly with Scala. Scala runs on all common JVMs and also on Android.
The Scala community is an important part of the Java ecosystem. Popular Scala frameworks, including Akka, Finagle, and the Play web framework include dual APIs for Java and Scala.
Functions are Objects
Scala’s approach is to develop a small set of core constructs that can be combined in flexible ways. This applies also to its object-oriented and functional natures. Features from both sides are unified to a degree where Functional and Object-oriented can be seen as two sides of the same coin.
Future-Proof
Scala shines when it comes to server software that makes use of concurrent processing, parallel utilization of multiple cores, and distributed processing in the cloud.
Its functional nature makes it easier to write safe and performance multi-threaded code. There’s typically less reliance on mutable state and Scala’s futures and actors provide powerful tools for organizing concurrent system at a high-level of abstraction.
TRAINING:
