Scala

Scala is basically an acronym for “Scalable Language”. Scala is not just another general purpose programming language, but the aspect where it stands out is the programming code pattern is simple, elegant, concise, and type safe way. It supports both object oriented and functional programming. The language is steadily gaining popularity among the programmers and one day might even dethrone Java as the most popular among the developers. The major contributing factor for this is that it’s quite easy to learn, and is in-line with the present breakthroughs of technology like Big Data, Spark, Scalding, Akka, Scorex and many more.

With its rapid growth and evolution Scala has been adopted by the likes tech giants like Foursquare, Twitter and many more. Here are some technologies and frameworks that has been built on Scala

Big data
Akka
Scalding (by Twitter)
Apache Spark
Scorex
Finagle (by Twitter)
Apache Samza
Apache Kafka

Object-oriented Scala

As it is a purely object-oriented language; Types and behavior of objects are described by class and traits. The classes can be extended by sub classing and a more flexible mixing based composition mechanism, which serves as a clean replacement for multiple inheritances.

Functional Scala

Apart from object-oriented properties, Scala is also a functional language. It provides lightweight syntax for defining anonymous functions, supports higher order functions, allows functions to be nested,, and also supports currying. Scala’s case classes has a built-in support for the pattern matching model algebraic types used in many functional programming languages. Scala also provides a convenient way to group functions that doesn’t belong to members of a class.

Scala is statically typed

Scala is loaded with a more expressive type system that enforces abstractions to be used in a safe and coherent manner.

In particular, the type system supports:

Variance annotation
Generic classes
Abstraction types and inner class object members
Upper and Lower type bounds
Explicitly typed self references
Compound types
Polymorphic methods
Conversions and Implicit parameters
Scala is extensible

Why Scala?

We have narrowed it down to 5 reasons

An object- oriented language that supports advanced component architecture via classes and traits.
A functional language that supports immutable data structures
Most commonly used in Big Data and many other framework development
Effortless integration with Java and at times caters the shortcomings in Java
Lines of code are simple, clear and concise.

Scala for Blockchain

Blockchain being the next big thing that can overwhelmingly replace the middleware, and Scala growing equally in popularity; what better way is there, than to build a data block oriented technology using Scala coding platform. With the success of Bitcoins more tech verticals are looking to adapt and integrate the blockchain technology with their own.

Here’s why your blockchain project should be built on Scala

Reduces many thread safety concerns that is encountered in traditional Java applications
More flexible, concise and straightforward syntax
Best suited for component based applications that support distribution and concurrency
Allows for much quicker implementation and enhances the performance
Quite easy to solve concurrency issues
Works seamlessly with the existing Java codes
Scala provides XML support

In a nutshell, Scala is a versatile and rich language that combines features of different languages. The codes and syntax are much cleaner, faster and concise.

To wrap it up, Scala is an awesome language that makes coding enjoyable and not tedious. But it is also used by many major corporations; most notably Twitter, LinkedIn, Foursquare, and The Guardian.