The next milestone in Scala’s long road to the 2.10 version has arrived, showing signs of a general cleanup for the language as it prepares for the full release.

We won’t have to wait too long now for the big day with only two new features present this time round, indicating that it’s nearly ready for us to test out. As ever, this release is cut directly from current development and is not intended for production environments. The Akka actors jar is now included in the distribution, whilst the backend emits Java 1.6 class files by default, with Java 1.5 class files deprecated.

The majority of Scala developers have been entrusted to go on a bughunt, with 60 bug fixes tackled, all of which can be found here in the announcement.

The multi-paradigm language is on the cusp of breaking free of its ‘hipster’-ish shackles for an assault on the mainstream. The best indication of that is the amount of Scala projects now cropping up, all 22 of them offering a release alongside this version. There seems to be an audio theme of the ones listed below:

scala-arm – provides automated resource management to ensure all your resources are closed without all the extra work!

provides automated resource management to ensure all your resources are closed without all the extra work! scalaz – for type classes and pure functional data structures

for type classes and pure functional data structures ScalaInterpreterPane – the Swing based front-end for the Scala REPL (interpreter)

the Swing based front-end for the Scala REPL (interpreter) AudioWidgets – specialized Swing widgets for audio applications in Scala

specialized Swing widgets for audio applications in Scala ScalaAudioWidgets – wrappers for the library above

wrappers for the library above ScalaAudioFile – read and write uncompresed audio files

read and write uncompresed audio files ScalaOSC – a library for OSC, a message protocol used in multimedia apps.

– a library for OSC, a message protocol used in multimedia apps. ScalaCollider – a sound synthesis library for the SuperCollider server

a sound synthesis library for the SuperCollider server ScalaColliderSwing – Swing and REPL front-end

Swing and REPL front-end FingerTree – a Scala implementation of the data structure

a Scala implementation of the data structure Scala-IO Core - speaks for itself

- speaks for itself Scala-IO File – idomatic filesystem

– idomatic filesystem shapeless – an exploration of generic programming in Scala

an exploration of generic programming in Scala SLICK – Scala Language Integrated Connection Kit

Scala Language Integrated Connection Kit specs2 – library for executable specifications in Scala

library for executable specifications in Scala ScalaTest – the established method for testing Scala applications

the established method for testing Scala applications ScalaMock – native mocking with macros added in

native mocking with macros added in Scales Xml

parboiled – lightweight yet powerful parsing

lightweight yet powerful parsing scalalogging – performant logging

performant logging scala-stm – transactional memory

Add to that the jewel in the crown, the Akka platform for building superb event-driven applications on the JVM, and you’ve got a pretty thriving community. This is no thanks in part down to the last version where big strides were made but now many more developers are seeing the charms of the language. Looks like Scala is making the right noises moving forward.