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Haskell VS Scala Lang

Compare Haskell VS Scala Lang and see what are their differences

Haskell logo Haskell

An advanced purely-functional programming language

Scala Lang logo Scala Lang

Scala is a pure-bred object-oriented language that runs on the JVM
  • Haskell Landing page
    Landing page //
    2023-05-01

We recommend LibHunt Haskell for discovery and comparisons of trending Haskell projects.

  • Scala Lang Landing page
    Landing page //
    2023-07-28

Haskell features and specs

  • Pure Functional Programming
    Haskell emphasizes pure functional programming, meaning functions have no side effects. This leads to code that is easier to understand, test, and maintain.
  • Strong Type System
    Haskell's type system is strong and expressive, allowing developers to catch many errors at compile time. This results in more reliable code.
  • Lazy Evaluation
    Haskell uses lazy evaluation by default, which can lead to performance improvements by avoiding unnecessary computations and enabling the creation of infinite data structures.
  • Immutability
    In Haskell, data is immutable by default. This leads to simpler reasoning about code behavior and reduces bugs related to mutable state.
  • High-Level Abstractions
    Haskell provides powerful abstractions like monads, functors, and applicative functors, which can lead to more concise and expressive code.
  • Concurrency
    Haskell has excellent support for concurrency and parallelism through its lightweight threading model and software transactional memory, making it suitable for concurrent applications.
  • Community and Libraries
    Haskell has a dedicated community and a rich set of libraries and tools, which can help accelerate development and provide solutions to common problems.

Possible disadvantages of Haskell

  • Steep Learning Curve
    Haskell has a steep learning curve, particularly for developers who are new to functional programming or coming from imperative and object-oriented backgrounds.
  • Performance Concerns
    While Haskell can be efficient, its performance can sometimes lag behind other languages like C++ or Rust for certain use cases, especially those requiring low-level optimization.
  • Limited Industry Adoption
    Haskell is not as widely adopted in industry compared to languages like Java, Python, or JavaScript, which can limit job opportunities and community size.
  • Compilation Times
    Haskell's compilation times can be long, especially for large projects, which can slow down the development process.
  • Tooling and IDE Support
    While improving, the tooling and IDE support for Haskell is not as mature as for some other popular languages, potentially affecting developer productivity.
  • Complexity of Advanced Features
    Some of Haskell's advanced features, such as monads and type-level programming, can be complex and difficult to master, which can be a barrier for new developers.
  • Library Gaps
    Although Haskell has many libraries, there might be gaps or less mature libraries for some specific use cases compared to more mainstream languages.

Scala Lang features and specs

  • Functional Programming
    Scala supports functional programming paradigms, allowing developers to write concise and expressive code using features like higher-order functions, immutable data structures, and lazy evaluation.
  • Interoperability with Java
    Scala runs on the JVM and provides seamless interoperability with Java, enabling the use of Java libraries and frameworks within Scala applications.
  • Expressive Syntax
    Scala's syntax is designed to be concise and expressive, which can lead to more readable and maintainable code compared to some other languages.
  • Strong Type System
    The strong static type system in Scala helps catch errors at compile time, which can improve reliability and enable robust software design.
  • Scalability
    Scala's design facilitates scalability of applications, making it a popular choice for building high-performance systems.
  • Community and Libraries
    Scala has a thriving community and a growing ecosystem of libraries and tools, which enhances the development experience and productivity.

Possible disadvantages of Scala Lang

  • Steep Learning Curve
    Scala's rich feature set and flexible syntax can be seen as complex and overwhelming for beginners, which might result in a steep learning curve.
  • Compilation Speed
    The compilation times for Scala can be significantly longer compared to some other languages, impacting development speed.
  • Tooling and IDE Support
    While Scala's tooling and IDE support have improved over the years, they can still lag behind those available for more mainstream languages like Java or Python.
  • Binary Compatibility
    Scala can face issues with binary compatibility between different versions, which may cause problems when upgrading dependencies in a project.
  • Smaller Talent Pool
    The availability of Scala developers is generally smaller than that of more popular languages, which might pose challenges in recruiting and team expansion.

Haskell videos

Functional Programming & Haskell - Computerphile

More videos:

  • Review - Marloe Haskell Review
  • Review - Marloe Watch Company - Haskell - Watch Review

Scala Lang videos

No Scala Lang videos yet. You could help us improve this page by suggesting one.

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Category Popularity

0-100% (relative to Haskell and Scala Lang)
Programming Language
66 66%
34% 34
OOP
63 63%
37% 37
Generic Programming Language
Learning Resources
100 100%
0% 0

User comments

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Social recommendations and mentions

Based on our record, Haskell should be more popular than Scala Lang. It has been mentiond 21 times since March 2021. We are tracking product recommendations and mentions on various public social media platforms and blogs. They can help you identify which product is more popular and what people think of it.

Haskell mentions (21)

  • Is there a programming language that will blow my mind?
    Haskell - a general-purpose functional language with many unique properties (purely functional, lazy, expressive types, STM, etc). You mentioned you dabbled in Haskell, why not try it again? (I've written about 7 things I learned from Haskell, and my book is linked at them bottom if you're interested :) ). Source: almost 2 years ago
  • Where to go from here?
    Where you go is entirely up to you. According to haskell.org, Haskell jobs are a-plenty. sigh. Source: about 2 years ago
  • Haskell.org now has "Get Started" page!
    Should they be part of haskell.org or something else? Source: over 2 years ago
  • Haskell.org now has "Get Started" page!
    Haskell.org now has a big purple Get Started button that takes you to a nice short guide (haskell.org/get-started) that quickly provides all the basic info to get going with Haskell. It is aimed for beginners, to reduce choice fatigue and to give them a clear, official path to get going. Source: over 2 years ago
  • dev environment for windows
    I just jumped into the wiki "Write Yourself a Scheme in 48 hours" which looks pretty good. (although some of the text explanation is hard to understand without context).. I used cabal to set up the starter project. Sublime editor seems to work OK and I just use the git Bash shell on windows to compile the program directly on the command line. So maybe this is all good enough for now (?). It seems installing... Source: over 2 years ago
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Scala Lang mentions (5)

  • how to setup scala
    I have a new windows 10 and downloaded the Coursier installer from scala-lang.org, the https://docs.scala-lang.org/getting-started/index.html says that you should have either java8 or java11 installed but most tutorials online and posts says to install latest version of java, which java jdk version should I install or does Coursier install it for me or do I choose the latest jdk (java-jdk-19)? Source: over 2 years ago
  • [NEWBIE] Problem with the very first project (Coursier installer, Win 10, Java 8)
    Try manually installing sbt without coursier. The instructions are on https://scala-lang.org. Source: over 2 years ago
  • The “Either” Issue
    I had met the core developers, we had discussing a lot about which technology would better address our demand and, after many considerations, we had chosen Scala. - Source: dev.to / about 3 years ago
  • Next programming language?
    I like scala. It combines object-oriented and functional programming into one high-level language, which makes it fun to learn. I don't know if it is popular in the robotics industry, but it runs on the jvm and can be combined with java, so there is that. I recommend the book "programming scala". Source: over 3 years ago
  • 25 years of OCaml
    Scala with the Typelevel ecosystem. Stay on the jVM, but have a much more pleasant and robust experience, including a great REPL. Source: almost 4 years ago

What are some alternatives?

When comparing Haskell and Scala Lang, you can also consider the following products

Rust - A safe, concurrent, practical language

Java - A concurrent, class-based, object-oriented, language specifically designed to have as few implementation dependencies as possible

Python - Python is a clear and powerful object-oriented programming language, comparable to Perl, Ruby, Scheme, or Java.

JavaScript - Lightweight, interpreted, object-oriented language with first-class functions

Elixir - Dynamic, functional language designed for building scalable and maintainable applications

Lua - Powerful, fast, lightweight, embeddable scripting language