The chart included and referenced is just of all the most obscure JVM languages. Look what happens when you add Java to that list [1].
[1] http://www.indeed.com/jobtrends?q=scala%2C+groovy%2C+clojure...)
[1] http://www.indeed.com/jobtrends?q=scala%2C+groovy%2C+clojure...)
http://www.indeed.com/jobanalytics/jobtrends?q=scala%2C+groo...
edit: yeah, it isn't intended to be programming specific: "Indeed.com searches millions of jobs from thousands of job sites. This job trends graph shows the percentage of jobs we find that contain your search terms."
Under the graphics you have the links to the respective jobs. Just check for yourself what these "Go" jobs [1] and the "Scala" jobs [2] are. "Haskell" jobs are also interesting.
And more: don't forget that currently even Php ads feature the infamous "experience with functional programming (Lisp, Clojure, Haskell) is a plus" line.
The article has just been edited with the above note.
I think the lead by Groovy from 2009 to last year should be ignored because job ads for Groovy programmers want them to use it as well as Java, but those for Scala programmers want them to use it instead of Java.
The Microsoft build ecology is a little bit more mixed bag, but when compared to the explosion of choices for Java between Ant/Maven/Ivy etc. I'm not sure which I prefer.
As far as languages, working in C# makes working in Java so painful. C# makes so many better language/library decisions. The problem is that the JVM is a very compelling target platform (much more so than being stuck on Windows).
With those constraints Scala is a very nice language to use. In fact I dread every minute I have to spend in Java. Further everyone I know personally who has spent time in Scala feels the same way. I've literally never met anyone in person who prefers Java to either C# or Scala from a language point of view.
What other Scala tools you're referring to? Scala can reuse almost all popular Java tools.
Also, can you elaborate on strict coding convention? do you mean operator overloading?