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Rank 161Up 1
#16 in Programming Languages
of 20 ranked entries
Scala
Martin Odersky · first appeared 2004
Runs on the JVM and interoperates with Java while offering genuine functional programming features Java itself only partially adopted — the learning curve is the honest reason it stayed niche. Recorded specifics: first appeared 2004, paradigm Functional/OO, avg. salary 135 K. Panel highlighted full JVM interoperability with genuine functional features and strong fit for big-data tooling built on the JVM. The reservation on record is learning curve is steep even for experienced Java developers.
FunctionalData/ML
Score breakdown
How Scala earned 77.2
Each criterion is scored independently, then combined using the weights published on Programming Languages.
- Ecosystem healthweight 30%
- 78.2
- Hiring realityweight 25%
- 76.7
- Long-term maintenance costweight 25%
- 74.6
- Performance at scaleweight 20%
- 79.6
On the record
Recorded detail
| First appeared | 2004 |
|---|---|
| Paradigm | Functional/OO |
| Avg. salary | 135 K |
| Rating | 7.5 |
Panel verdict
Strengths and reservations
What it gets right
- Full JVM interoperability with genuine functional features
- Strong fit for big-data tooling built on the JVM
Where it gives ground
- Learning curve is steep even for experienced Java developers
1 appearance
Where this entry ranks
From the same list
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Guido van Rossum · first appeared 1991
The default teaching language and the default data science language at once, a rare combination that keeps the hiring pool deep at every experience level. Performance is the honest tradeoff, patched over by C-extension libraries rather than solved.
97.5/100 Top 49 score1Up 1
Rank 02Editor’s pickTypeScript
Microsoft · first appeared 2012
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Rank 03Editor’s pickJavaScript
Brendan Eich · first appeared 1995
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94.1/100 Top 49 score1Down 1
Rank 04Go
Google · first appeared 2009
Google built it specifically to compile fast and read the same regardless of who wrote it, and that opinionated simplicity is exactly why infrastructure teams standardised on it for services that need to just stay up.
92.1/100 Top 49 score3Up 3
Rank 05Editor’s pickRust
Mozilla / Rust Foundation · first appeared 2010
Memory safety without a garbage collector, enforced by a compiler strict enough that beginners routinely fight it for weeks — the payoff is production services that categorically cannot have a whole class of memory bugs.
91.8/100 Top 49 scoreNewNew entry
Rank 06Java
Sun Microsystems / Oracle · first appeared 1995
Two and a half decades of enterprise codebases that are not going anywhere means Java hiring demand never really dropped, whatever the language’s reputation in newer-language circles.
90.2/100 Top 49 score2Up 2
Rank 07C#
Microsoft · first appeared 2000
Microsoft’s answer to Java, and the modern versions have quietly closed most of the syntax gaps that used to make the comparison unflattering — Unity’s dominance in game development is its own separate reason to learn it.
89.0/100 Top 49 score3Down 3
Rank 08SQL
IBM / ANSI standard · first appeared 1974
Not a general-purpose language and never trying to be one — every data-adjacent role from analyst to backend engineer eventually needs it, which makes it the most quietly load-bearing skill on this entire list.
87.0/100 Top 49 score3Down 3
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Top 49 rankings are editorial. Scores are produced from the published criteria on each list and are refreshed on the cadence stated there. Figures shown across this section are curated demonstration data.