> "Scala and its supposed (largely academic) benefits"
Perhaps you would like to discuss the "academic" benefits with the likes of Twitter and Foursquare?
> "it just doesn't do anything that Java can't do"
It's a more expressive language. You could argue that Go and Python can't do anything that C or assembler can't do. That doesn't make Python irrelevant.
> "plus the tooling for Java is wayyy better"
In terms of the JVM the tooling is exactly the same. In terms of coding I use IntelliJ for both Scala and Java development, without noticing much difference in quality between the support for either language. In terms of libraries Scala has access to all the libraries that java has as well as additional libraries designed specifically for Scala.
Most (actually all) Java developers that I know grumble when having to code in Java after they are exposed to Scala.
> Perhaps you would like to discuss the "academic" benefits with the likes of Twitter and Foursquare?
Academic vs Practical probably? What's the point of discussing with <big-name-company>? Devs there do like to try out new tools, new languages, new platforms for the sake of trying as well. Devs are humans with ego as well, just like the rest of us.
> Most (actually all) Java developers that I know grumble when having to code in Java after they are exposed to Scala.
I code in Java, Python, JavaScript (modern) and playing with Ruby/Rails lately but I never grumble when I have to go back to Java because I know there are limitations/disadvantages of the other platforms as well. I use SVN and Git and I never grumble when I go back to SVN on a very large project with multiple component that have dependencies.
Perhaps you would like to discuss the "academic" benefits with the likes of Twitter and Foursquare?
> "it just doesn't do anything that Java can't do"
It's a more expressive language. You could argue that Go and Python can't do anything that C or assembler can't do. That doesn't make Python irrelevant.
> "plus the tooling for Java is wayyy better"
In terms of the JVM the tooling is exactly the same. In terms of coding I use IntelliJ for both Scala and Java development, without noticing much difference in quality between the support for either language. In terms of libraries Scala has access to all the libraries that java has as well as additional libraries designed specifically for Scala.
Most (actually all) Java developers that I know grumble when having to code in Java after they are exposed to Scala.