The state of Scala in 2026
Session Abstract
With Scala 3.9 LTS out, three Scala distributions will exist in parallel: Scala Next (3.10+), the current 3.9 LTS and the old 3.3 LTS.
We will explain how to think about it: why you should migrate your libraries to 3.9 LTS, what cool features have we cooked up in Scala Next, and how the standard library can evolve now that it’s no longer frozen.
Session Description
[As I write this talk description, the first release candidate of the new Scala 3.9 LTS is being prepared in the background. By Scala Days ‘26, Scala 3.9 LTS will be out in the wild, likely with Scala Next already at 3.10 series.]
Scala 3.9 LTS is the second LTS series in the history of Scala, 3 years after its predecessor, 3.3 LTS. We bumped the required JDK to 17 and packed many new features, such as named tuples, better for comprehension loops, a new language runner (Scala CLI) or a bytecode optimizer.
Scala 3.3 LTS still works with older JDKs and will be supported for at least another year. That should be a sufficiently long window for the community to migrate, as currently it is the most widely used distribution. Scala 2.13 will also continue receiving security and bug fixes, as well as JDK compatibility updates.
We will take an early look at Scala 3.10, which will drop a number of legacy constructs to make space for new features.
The standard library is getting unfrozen and open to contributions from 3.10 onwards, with a dedicated process in SLC. We will explain how (and why) it differs from SIP and what kind of changes would be accepted.
In this talk we will trace where Scala is today, where we are taking it, and how you can help shape it.
