Scala Skills

What is Scala?

Scala is a strongly, statically typed functional/object-oriented language primarily targeted to the Java Virtual Machine (JVM). It brings a lot of powerful programming language concepts out of academia, placing them into the hands of practitioners. A key design emphasis is having a powerful and expressive type system that can eliminate large classes of errors at compile time. It’s found popularity in both the data science world and finance.

One of the key features of Scala is its support for functional programming, which emphasizes immutability, higher-order functions, and the use of immutable data structures. This enables developers to write code that is more modular, composable, and easier to reason about.

Hired platform data named Scala as the second hottest programming skill in 2023. In this context, ‘hottest’  means the employer demand for expertise in this skill is greater than the supply of talent with it. Therefore, engineers experienced in this language receive 27% more, or 1.27 times more interview requests (IVRs) than the marketplace average. 

What to use Scala for

Scala’s versatility makes it suitable for a wide range of applications and use cases, such as:

Backend development

Scala’s expressive syntax and robust type system make it an excellent choice for building scalable and maintainable backend services.

Data processing and analysis

Scala’s functional programming features, combined with libraries like Apache Spark, make it a powerful tool for processing and analyzing large datasets.

Web development

Scala’s web frameworks, such as Play Framework and Akka HTTP, enable developers to build high-performance and reactive web applications.

Concurrent and distributed systems

Scala’s support for actor-based concurrency and distributed computing frameworks like Akka makes it well-suited for building highly concurrent and distributed systems.

Machine learning and AI

Scala’s interoperability with popular machine learning libraries like Apache Spark MLlib and TensorFlow makes it an attractive choice for building machine learning and AI applications.

Companies of all sizes use Hired to find engineers with Scala skills

What is a Scala developer?

A Scala developer is a skilled software engineer proficient in using the Scala programming language to develop a wide range of applications and systems. But being a Scala developer is more than just writing code. It’s about embracing functional programming principles, leveraging Scala’s powerful features, and building robust and scalable solutions. 

Here’s what it means to be a Scala developer:

1. Functional programming advocate: Scala developers embrace functional programming concepts such as immutability, higher-order functions, and pattern matching to write elegant and maintainable code.
2. Concurrency expert: Scala developers are adept at building highly concurrent and distributed systems using Scala’s actor-based concurrency model and libraries like Akka.
3. Domain modeling: Scala developers excel at domain modeling and designing expressive and type-safe domain-specific languages (DSLs) using Scala’s powerful type system.
4. Tooling and libraries: Scala developers are familiar with a wide range of tools and libraries in the Scala ecosystem, such as sbt (Scala Build Tool), ScalaTest, and Cats, to streamline development and improve code quality.
5. Continuous learning: Scala developers are passionate about learning and staying abreast of the latest developments in the Scala community, whether it’s new language features, libraries, or best practices.

Most important Scala developer skills in 2024

As we look ahead to 2024, the demand for Scala developers continues to grow. Here are some of the most important skills for Scala developers in 2024:

1. Proficiency in Scala: A deep understanding of Scala’s syntax, features, and idioms is essential for writing concise, expressive, and type-safe code.
2. Functional programming: Scala developers should have a solid grasp of functional programming concepts and be comfortable writing pure and composable functions.
3. Concurrency and parallelism: Scala developers should be proficient in building concurrent and parallel applications using Scala’s actor-based concurrency model, futures, and parallel collections.
4. Big data and distributed computing: Scala developers should have experience working with distributed computing frameworks like Apache Spark and building scalable and fault-tolerant data processing pipelines.
5. Web development: Scala developers should be familiar with web development frameworks like Play Framework and Akka HTTP for building high-performance and reactive web applications.

Scala resources

Check out our resources to continue sharpening your Scala skills.

Hired profiles help developers showcase their top tech skills

After passing Hired skills assessments, candidates have the chance to showcase their skills to employers. They can opt to present an ‘Assessments’ badge on their profile. Candidates may take various assessments including Programming Skills, Full Stack, Backend, Frontend, iOS, Android, Debugging, Dev Ops Generalist, and Dev Ops AWS.

Why should you hire Scala developers?

If you’re a talent acquisition professional or tech hiring manager seeking software engineers, consider a Scala developer to bring these key benefits to the table: 

• Scalability and Performance: Scala’s functional programming features and support for concurrency enable developers to build scalable and high-performance applications that can handle heavy workloads with ease.
• Developer Productivity: Scala’s expressive syntax and powerful abstractions allow developers to write concise and maintainable code, leading to increased productivity and faster time-to-market.
• Access to the Scala Ecosystem: By hiring Scala developers, you gain access to a vibrant ecosystem of libraries, frameworks, and tools that can accelerate development and solve common challenges.
• Future-Proof Your Team: Scala’s growing popularity and adoption in industries like finance, tech, and healthcare make it a valuable skill for developers, ensuring that your team stays relevant and competitive in the market.
• Community Support: The Scala community is active and supportive, with a wealth of resources, meetups, and online forums where developers can seek help, share knowledge, and collaborate on projects.

Assess tech candidates for Scala skills

Looking for candidates skilled in Scala? Technical assessments are a multi-pronged solution. They allow you to streamline the hiring process and reduce bias with tech skill-focused benchmarks. 

Hired Assessments offer a library of hundreds of questions and customizable challenges tailored to technical preferences. See how Mastercard and Axon used Hired Assessments to vet top candidates. 

Hired also provides coding challenges, which give employers exclusive access to candidates who pass custom technical assessments. Learn more about how to accelerate technical hiring with these challenges.