Scala programming language is a scalable language that means it grows its level with the growth in the level of the programmer. A Scala programmer has to keep himself upgraded if he wants to take full use of the features that this language provides. Scala eventually didn’t receive the appreciation and the popularity it actually deserved due to a number of factors which in turn resulted in less no of Scala Programmers. Scala faced this situation due to various reasons including
- Its entry time: When Scala Made an entry to the IT world there were already a number of other languages available to give a fight for the spot.
- Slow compilation time: The Compiler for Scala is slow in nature in comparison with any other language’ compiler.
- Java Popularity: When Scala made an entry to the industry Java had already attained a strong position and popularity which made it tough for Scala to fight for the spot.
What makes Scala Better than Java?
Scala is actually an improved version of Java. It overcomes the anomalies present in Java Language and make it even easier for the programmers to develop bug-free applications. The basic advantage that Scala Offer over java is its support for Functional programming in addition to the object-oriented concepts. It provides a good interface for using both functional and object oriented programming concepts and in turn provide the developers with better options.
We have already seen the various reasons why Scala can never match Java or gain popularity among the programmers. All these factors eventually resulted in the shortage of Scala Programmers. Due to this shortage, the companies which have preferred Scala have to face a lot of problems in order to hire these Scala programmers.
Various initiatives to attract programmers:
Looking at the lack of interest of programmers in Scala, various initiatives have been taken including development if various frameworks which provide these Scala programmers an easy to use and integrated environment for development. Scala majorly deals in web development and some of the most commonly used Scala frameworks for web development are:
- Play Framework
- Lift framework
- Scalatra Framework
- Spray framework
This framework has actually attracted the crowd and hopefully can help Scala make it big in the IT industry.
Economic Boom for Scala Programmers
In order to attract more programmers into Scala development, the companies are even ready to pay big bucks. The average salary for Scala programmers has doubled in last few years from 350000 INR to 650000 INR annually.
Where this Scala vs Java clash is heading?
These frameworks have surely given some life to Scala development but it still have lot of ground to cover. Whereas Java, on the other hand, is sitting strong with a huge client base and popularity among the users and programmers.
But with big brands like LinkedIn, Guardian and K Lout opting for Scala as the preferred language has been a positive sign for this language. But, it is not going to be that easy for Scala with new languages coming into the market every day and with the competition growing exponentially.