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Comment by eklavya | Hacker News Reader

What matrix are you using where Scala wouldn't make it in top 10? I would bet it would be one of the top choices.

Well I'll immediately admit my top 10 comment wasn't exactly based on comprehensive research and polling on the subject. That said I doubt that if such a poll would happen the results would place Scala anywhere near the top. There are just very few upsides for Google to do so. Their main reason for adding language support would be to broaden the developer base that is able to create Android applications and how many Scala developers do you know that aren't fluent in Java?

As a new Android developer Scala wouldn't remotely have come to my mind as a feature I wanted anytime soon. The Android Studio is still in beta, the ability to test different platforms with the simulator is less than great (poor) experience still on a MacBook Pro, and the vast majority of developers come out with iOS versions of their products before Android. Those three alone need massive attention before I would even remotely want Google to focus resources on Scala development.

Scala is an immensely popular jvm language (as far as jvm langaugesg go). That's why it would be a good candidate.

Scala and Groovy both have about 2% mind share on the JVM. I wouldn't call that "immense".

Scala and Groovy are used for two totally different use cases. Scala is used instead of Java as a systems language for building systems, whereas Groovy is used as well as Java for testing Java classes or calling them from Grails. In theory we could use Groovy as the dynamic language for Scala, but because of its type inference and syntactic tersity Scala doesn't need a Groovy.

Are you counting java in that percentage? What is the percentage of scala out of non-java jvm languages?

It seems to be tied with Groovy at the #2 spot (about 2% each).

Maybe 2% developers.

Mind share ... are there any great minds left in the Java ecosystem? Doesn't feel that way.

All the various language surveys that have come up these past months (RedMonk, TIOBE, job boards, github popularity, etc...) put Scala in a distant #30-50 slot. Certainly not in the top 90% mainstream languages.

Number 14 on Redmonk.

http://redmonk.com/sogrady/2014/06/13/language-rankings-6-14...

"The next JVM language to learn" (Java-focused survey): Scala leads comfotably with 47%.

http://zeroturnaround.com/rebellabs/interview-with-typesafe-...

Apart from that, you are completely missing the context. People are not looking for a random language, but for a language which is compatible with Java and Android, allows gradual migration and protects existing investment.

Scala is the top-contender here.

"Next language to learn" is the kind of metric you'd use if you don't have real numbers to your advantage. TIOBE lists Scala at 0.03% mind share, and you'll get similar numbers if you look at other metrics (see my post above).

For Android, there are already more projects written in Kotlin and Clojure on Android than on Scala, so not sure why you think Scala is the "top contender".

On top of that, Scala's upcoming adoption of Java 8 means that Scala on Android is effectively dead for several years, until the Android team decides to adopt Java 8 (since they're not even on Java 7, this might be a while).

Typesafe just doesn't care about Android, why would you take such a risk to pick a language that is so poorly supported?

You are really getting a bit desperate ...

Please, let's be rational about this. A new language takes time to gain widespread use. Or are you telling me that Go, Scala, <put your favorite new hotness> all account for nothing? We the developer community are in a transition phase. The advancements will become mainstream but it will take time.

Scala is picking up pace like anything. This has been visible to anyone following the Scala ecosystem. Not in just programmer circles, the bombardment of jobs for Scala developers in the enterprise suggests they are interested too.

Sure, languages take a very long time to gain adoption. Scala has been around for ten years and is still showing very little adoption while Clojure and more recently Ceylon are already receiving a lot of attention.

I used to have very high hopes for Scala to become the next Java but at this point, I've moved on and hoping that another language will get that spot.

> while Clojure and more recently Ceylon are already receiving a lot of attention

That's a nice bubble you seem to live in.

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