Five Things Java (and Ruby) Developers Need to Know about Scala

Summary

Five things Java developers should know about Scala, and today published another list of five things Ruby developers should know about Scala.

In 5 Things a Java developer needs to know about Scala, list of the most important things for Java developers to know about Scala. In brief:

* Scala programs are byte-code compatible with Java code.
* Scala code is more compact and more expressive.
* You can write code the way you used to and migrate to "functional" thinking as your brain shifts.
* XML is an integral part of Scala.
* Mixins/Traits are more flexible than Java's interfaces and single implementation inheritance.

In 5 Things a Ruby developer needs to know about Scala, different list, which the considers the most important things for Ruby developers to know about Scala. In brief:

* Performance and stability.
* Richer XML and collection classes.
* More of a functional flavor.
* Much better facilities for writing DSLs.
* Static typing without getting in your face.

Do you think Scala has a chance of becoming mainstream? If so, in what areas?