What is Scala about that has piqued the interest of software developers? Learn how Scala can help your business in a variety of ways.

Next, programming languages are emerging as the new must-have skills against a background of rapid development in the use of big data, analytics, data science, and the building of websites. Scala is now utilized as one of the most popular programming languages by some of the world’s most prominent websites, including Twitter, eBay, and LinkedIn.

But what is Scala about that has piqued the interest of software development projects? Let’s have a look at how Scala can help your organization in a variety of ways.

What exactly is Scala?

Scala is a programming language built on top of the Java Virtual Machine (JVM) intended to describe programming patterns in a type-safe and concise manner. It is well recognized in the programming industry as an alternative to Python for large data applications. It was designed (in 2003) to solve some of the shortcomings of the ever-popular and ubiquitous Java. As a result, it provides extremely comprehensive yet succinct code. But, how will this convert into commercial advantages?

Why is Scala so popular right now?

According to W3Techs, while ranking lower in terms of popularity and traffic when compared to the most popular programming languages, such as Java, ASP.NET, or PHP, Scala has demonstrated a steady increase in usage over the last year, rising from 1.3 percent in March 2019 to 1.6 percent in March 2020. (in 2015, its usage was only 0.2 percent ). This increase is slightly higher than that indicated by languages such as JavaScript or Python.

On the other hand, Scala is ranked #20 in popularity in the 2019 Developer Survey conducted by The Stack Overflow website. In addition, 58.3 percent of respondents said they “love” working with Scala. Scala is ranked #28 in the March 2020 TIOBE Index, which measures the popularity of programming languages.

Scala’s expansion is closely related to the growing demand for big data projects and the software and people required to execute them. When analyzing data using the popular Apache Spark, a prominent cluster computing framework, it is the language of choice. Spark is utilized in Machine Learning and enables companies with quick, simple data analytics. Companies such as eBay, Netflix, Amazon, Alibaba, Yahoo, and Databricks use Apache Spark for business insights and power their customer-facing products, such as displaying real-time recommendations. When you look behind the scenes at Spark, you’ll notice that Scala is powering more than half of the insights and recommendations.

Remember that Spark is written in Scala, making it more resilient and efficient due to the native connection. Spark is also written in Scala since its syntax is less complicated than Java’s, and its performance is superior to Python and R.

What are Scala’s strengths?

As previously stated, Twitter is a lover of Scala. They went into great detail about its use in a chat with three Twitter developers. One of the points they made was the need to keep their expenses low and the flexibility that the language provides. Scala is popular among programmers because it offers a diverse set of developer tools and blends the strengths of two distinct programming environments.

It combines features of both Object-Oriented Programming (OOP) and functional programming languages, utilizing the finest characteristics of each. One fantastic tip to keep in mind is to teach or pass on information about Objects to the team and improve it with notions that use Scala’s functional model. Take the best of both worlds and combine them. As a result, the code will be less prone to errors and will function better and more efficiently, boosting productivity and the overall quality of the development.

The Scala Library Index (Scaladex) is massive, offering programmers access to a vast ecosystem of 175,000+ libraries. It provides a seamless introduction to the realm of functional programming for programmers who are already skilled in Java.

Some people believe it is reasonably simple to write, implying that it is also simpler to build and debug. There are tools or specialized IDEs that improve development productivity, such as Jetbrains or Eclipse. Scala’s usage of static types in complicated applications helps maintain the code bug-free throughout compilation time while simultaneously lowering delivery time due to a lack of mistakes. Because the Scala language utilizes simple syntax, there are generally fewer mistakes overall, especially compared to Java. This also simplifies testing and refactoring. Furthermore, Scala allows you to create high-performance systems by utilizing the JVM as a runtime.

Scala may be a bit more difficult to learn than Python, another high-level language, due to its high-level functionality characteristics. Scala is favored when performance, memory, and safety are important considerations when dealing with big, intensive data processing. It is increasingly excellent for huge projects that need to be scaled beautifully since it provides a high-quality solution while being less prone to errors (hence the name Scala).

What makes Scala perfect for business?

Developers and stakeholders do not always agree on everything, but as any Project Manager will tell you, finding common ground is the foundation of every successful project. Finding common ground where everyone can agree on Scala’s benefits, on the other hand, is a piece of cake. This language has numerous characteristics that make it an obvious winner regardless of where you sit at the table.

• Marketing at a faster speed

Scala is popular among programmers because of its efficiency and conciseness, but what does this mean for business stakeholders? If you’re interested in the business side of app development, you’ll be pleased to learn that Scala’s efficient code translates into speed. There are fewer lines to test when the code is clean, efficient, and concise. Testing and development are faster, which is a benefit because it shortens the development cycle and improves time to market.

And, in the future, when new features are introduced, other modifications must be made, or upgrades must be done; this so-called “clean code” will be easier to work with since it generates less technical debt.

• An app that is more stable

Hand clutching a mobile phone while coding on a computer

As previously said, a prominent feature of Scala is that it mixes elements of both OOP and functional programming. One of functional programming’s advantages is that it produces code that is more stable and safe than mutable data structures. With the choice of functional programming solutions at their disposal, programmers have a larger, more comprehensive toolset for issue resolution.

All of this contributes to more robust code. Strong code eliminates a wide range of potentially hazardous side effects generated by the unintentional impacts of lesser code forms. Fewer problems mean a more reliable app with less downtime, fewer bugs, and a better overall user experience for stakeholders.

• Future-proof apps

Scala is a popular data analytics: around 70% of Scala programmers worked as backend developers in 2019, while approximately 40% worked with analytics. This is due to Scala’s efficiency and characteristics providing the finest concurrency support in libraries like Akka or the well-known library, Play Framework, which is also developed using Scala!

Apps are developing at an incredible speed. Today’s apps are designed to be quicker while also giving greater capabilities and allowing for simpler integration. Take use of Scala’s advantages and benefits to stay one step ahead in app development.

In summary, Scala is popular among programmers, especially those with a solid foundation in Java. Some even say that they are more productive and have more fun at work now that they utilize Scala. While we cannot guarantee that moving to Scala would revive the development teams’ love for programming, we can state that Scala is a very strong language that helps the team and business stakeholders.

After all, if the team is pleased, it is typically a more productive team. We can add this to the list of commercial advantages of adopting Scala to power your next development project, focusing on analytics or web backend.