Discover Scala: The Language That Scales With You

November 29, 2023
Uruchi O.
Scala, Development

Categories

Web PerformanceDesign & DevelopmentScalaMarketing & AnalyticseCommerce
Scala Language

Stepping into the world of Scala gives you an experience of a robust, general-purpose programming language. Scala, developed by Martin Odersky, was officially introduced in 2004 at Ecole Polytechnique Federale de Lausanne (EPFL).

While Scala is distinct from Java, it seamlessly operates on the Java Virtual Machine (JVM). Scala's source code is compiled into Java bytecode, allowing it to run efficiently in Java environments. It is a hybrid of object-oriented and functional paradigms, treating every value as an object and every function as a value.

The language's name, derived from "scalable," reflects its adaptability and ability to grow with a user's needs.

Popularity of Scala

  • Twitter switched large portions of its backend from Ruby to Scala, intending to complete the migration.
  • Apple Inc. uses Scala in certain teams, alongside Java and the Play framework.
  • The New York Times uses Scala for its internal content management system.
  • Various teams at Google use Scala, especially after acquisitions like Firebase and Nest.
  • Walmart Canada employs Scala for its backend platform.

Features of Scala

  • Type inference
  • Singleton objects
  • Immutability
  • Lazy computation
  • Case classes and pattern matching
  • Concurrency control
  • String interpolation
  • Higher-order functions
  • Traits
  • Rich collection set

Frameworks and Libraries

Scala boasts an extensive ecosystem with powerful frameworks and libraries:

  • Play Framework: A productive framework for building scalable web applications.
  • Akka Toolkit: Create message-driven, concurrent, and resilient applications.
  • Slick: A functional relational mapping library for interacting with databases using functional programming paradigms.
  • Apache Spark: Used for scalable big data processing, with a Scala API.
  • Cats and Scalaz: Functional programming libraries providing abstractions for common patterns.

Build Tools

  • SBT (Scala Build Tool): Automates compilation, testing, and deployment tasks for Scala projects.
  • Mill: A simpler build tool designed for performance, while still compatible with SBT.
 Prev post