Scala uses the Java Virtual Machine (JVM) during runtime, which gives it some speed over Python in most cases. In the case of Python, Spark libraries are called which require a lot of code processing and therefore slower performance. You will master the essential knowledge of the open source Apache Spark framework and the Scala programming language. There is a growing demand for Scala developers because big data companies value developers who can master a productive and robust programming language for data analysis and processing in Apache Spark.
Data scientists often prefer to learn both Scala for Spark and Python for Spark, but Python is often the second preferred language for Apache Spark, as Scala came first. Refactoring the code of a statically typed language like Scala is much easier and uncomplicated than refactoring the code of a dynamic language like Python. Learning Scala enriches a programmer's knowledge of several novel abstractions in the type system, new functional programming features and immutable data. Many organisations favour the speed and simplicity of Spark, which supports many application programming interfaces (APIs) available from languages such as Java, R, Python and Scala.
Scala was developed to allow common programming patterns to be expressed in a concise, type-safe format. Scala allows general programming patterns to be expressed in a very concise and efficient format while minimising the number of lines of code. Performance is mediocre when using Python programming code to make calls to Spark libraries, but if there is a lot of processing involved, the Python code becomes much slower than the equivalent Scala code. Before choosing a language for programming with Apache Spark, it is necessary for developers to learn Scala and Python to become familiar with their features.
However, when there is significant processing logic, performance is an important factor and Scala definitely offers better performance than Python, for programming against Spark. Scala is definitely the better choice for the Spark Streaming feature because Python's Spark support is not advanced and mature like Scala. A quick look at the salaries offered for Python and Scala skills shows that Scala as a skill offers more salary in the job market than Python. Scala allows developers to write efficient, readable and maintainable services without hanging program code in an unreadable web of call-backs.
Both Python and Scala are general-purpose programming languages that support the object-oriented model for creating applications.
