What is Scala? A Close Look for 2020

In our modern business community, a coding background elevates you above your peers and sets you on the road toward a rewarding career. Folks who attend coding bootcamp or pick up programming languages such as Scala have the tools needed to land great gigs and make serious cash. Your time is precious, and you want to use it picking up only the most useful and essential skills.

We let you in on all of the uses for Scala and explain why it can change your career for the better. You’ll get a rundown on how this programming language allows you to master big-data tasks and adjust the scope for large or small tasks. By the time you finish this article, you’ll be a Scala convert and will add it to your roster of must-learn languages.

What Is Scala Used For?

Coding languages make the computing world operate, and the Scala programming language is a key member of the family. It is a relatively young language, as it was born in 2003 and was created by Martin Odersky. 

Thanks to its relative youth, Scala is easy to work with when using modern techniques. The idea was to create a fast compiler that could handle large amounts of data quickly. Scala was the result, and it’s scorchingly fast.

Its secret weapon is its use of Java Virtual Machine. Scala programs compile their code and outputs it as byte code that JVM then uses to create a result. Everything involved with the process is fast, and that allows this coding language to zip along. The amount of data you can handle depends on the speed of the process by which you use it, and Scala helps you do that in no time flat.

What Frameworks does Scala Support?

When looking at Scala compiler and comparing it to similar languages, one of the first concerns you have is the frameworks the language employs. A good language needs a robust infrastructure and the ability to work for a variety of needs, and that requires it to support appropriate frameworks. A language without wide framework support can be the most efficient language ever created and still be useless to you if it doesn’t support the framework you need.

Scala has solid framework support, which makes it an excellent selection for all kinds of situations. It plays well with Spark framework, which is a champ at big-data processing; Play, which works with Scala to create web apps; and Neo4j, which is a java spring framework that has analytical capabilities and domain-specific functionality. It also uses Akka for fault-tolerant and concurrent JVM apps as well as Scalding for MapReduce functions.

Is Scala Scala(ble)?

When you look at languages that work for your business, the scale is one of the key factors that you consider. A quality functional programming language is appropriate for enterprise-level operations as well as for smaller apps, and it should be versatile enough to perform well in any environment. So, how does Scala stack up against other languages when it comes to scalability? Can it go from a trickle to a torrent without trouble?

Scala is one of the most scalable languages around, so much so that it got its name from the word scale. While some languages like Ruby, Java, and Perl claim and do have some scalability, you always use some standard code with those languages. Scala, by comparison, is much more flexible. You can use it and be confident that it will work no matter the complexity or data volume with which you’re working. 

What Sorts of Applications Are Right for Scala?

Now that we’ve learned more about Scala’s scalability, speed, and frameworks, the big question is how it can fit into your business. What kinds of applications does it do a top job at handling? Scala needs to have applicability in your neck of the business woods if you plan to adopt it, after all. Cost and usefulness are the bottom line in any business decision, including which programming language to select for regular use.

No worries when it comes to Scala’s applicability—you can use it for all kinds of programs great and small. It’s a great choice for web applications, data analytics apps, and both batch and parallel processing. It’s the king of real-time streaming programs and is also perfect for both distributed-data and concurrency processing operations. Thanks to its versatility, Scala’s a cost-effective solution for lots of businesses.

And that’s the long and short of Scala. Folks who know programming languages such as Scala get to tackle amazing challenges and bring home handsome paychecks.