by Martin Odersky, Lex Spoon, and Bill Venners
May 6, 2008
http://www.artima.com/scalazine/articles/scalable-language.html
The name Scala stands for “scalable language.” The language is so named because it was designed to grow with the demands of its users. You can apply Scala to a wide range of programming tasks, from writing small scripts to building large systems.
Scala is easy to get into. It runs on the standard Java platform and it interoperates seamlessly with all Java libraries. It’s a great language for writing scripts that pull together Java components. But it can play out its strengths even more for building large systems and frameworks of reusable components.
Scala - A Scalable Language - TS-5165.pdf