Scala v/s Java | Approach & performance overview

Scala is a derivative of Java, but comparisons can’t be avoided. These languages share similarities to some extent and differences too, but they are not meant to replace each other.

Wanna know why?

Let’s dive in deeper!

Java is Object Oriented programming language that focuses on the manipulation of the provided data by making it available to the users via the graphical UI.

Scala is a machine compiled language specially designed to run on Java Virtual Machine (JVM). It stresses more on functional approach in addition to the object-oriented approach.

Why Scala? Isn’t Java reliable and does everything?

Scala is designed to overcome the imperfections of Java in order to increase its efficiency. Also, change in approach solves certain problems in a better way. Let’s have a look at other differentiating aspects of Scala and Java.

Language compactness

When it comes to the compactness of the language, Scala takes the lead. All thanks to Scala’s functional properties for making Java codes concise. Scala doesn’t rely on getters and setters for language abstraction. Java also lets you shorten the codes, but it never happens to that extent.

Let’s see the compactness of either language with this example of conversion of a list of strings from numbers to integers

Java:

List<Integer> ints = new ArrayList<Integer>(); for (String s : list) { ints.add(Integer.parseInt(s)); }

Scala:

val ints = list.map(s => s.toInt)

Complexity

Some professionals might say that Scala is tough to understand. Even the Java pros say that Java codes are lengthy but easier to understand in comparison to Scala.

Scala enables deeply nested codes where you can define functions inside functions, into other functions, and so on. Nesting is organized, only if written appropriately, otherwise it’s a mess. There is a reason why only professionals adopt Scala, developers with no prior experience in Java refrain from diving in Scala development.

Operator Overloading

Scala supports operator overloading but Java doesn’t. You can create a new operator in Java and assign it with any value, but you can’t overload an existing operator with new and distinct values.

Scala v/s Java Performance Metrics

Scala is all neat and compact but the compactness comes at a price of the performance which is twice as slow than that of Java. Java on the other hand is simply super-fast and efficient in multitasking.

Scala helps to solve the critical problems of concurrency, distributed systems, and data processing. Scala is designed in a manner that it can use any of the libraries of Java. So, you can call Scala from Java and vice-versa.

To wrap up

• Java is easy-to-understand and packs serious performance but Scala is more compact, concise and aids in solving tough problems.
• Scala and Java complement each other. Depending on the application, one may outdo the other, but they coexist.

Development in an unfamiliar language like Scala can be hectic, your team can’t always rely on communities for support. A team of domain experts can make the process less painful.

If you need Java or Scala related assistance, talk to us here.