Bill Venners on the rise of Scala
Scala is a scalable language that blends functional and imperative programming styles in an 
object-oriented framework familiar to Java developers. In this discussion with Daniel Steinberg, Bill Venners explains why
some experienced Java programmers are unwilling to give up static-type checking, even for the productivity benefits found
in dynamic languages like Ruby and Python. He also delves into the particulars of programming with Scala, like what makes
it so scalable, how it supports code quality, and where it best fits into your Java development toolkit. Take this opportunity
to learn from a master about what's under the hood with Scala. You'll also gain deeper insight into why functional programming
is moving from margins to center for many Java developers, and why dynamic languages should not be your only functional programming
alternative.
- Visit the Scala homepage for documentation, downloads, and community.
- See "Twelve steps to Scala" (Artima.com, May 2007) to learn more about Scala from Bill Venners, along with Scala creator Martin Odersky and Lex Spoon.
- Abhijit Belapurkar explains Java's classification as an imperative programming language and shows you some ways to use Java for functional programming in the article "Functional programming in the Java language" (developerWorks, July 2004).
- Bill Venners wrote JavaWorld's Under the Hood column from June 1996 to December 1997. Many of these classic columns have been re-printed in Bill's Inside the Java Virtual Machine (McGraw Hill, January 2000). You can also read them all right here on JavaWorld.
- JavaWorld's Java Technology Insider: Inside views from the developers shaping the future of the Java platform.
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Sun's reorg may seem promising to shareholders but it's also a scramble for position. The question now is whether Sun can,
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