Does it make sense to write a forum in Scala?

Question

I am looking for a meaningful task to learn Scala (something that can be used at the end, and not just for programming), and I also have to create a forum, and I do not want to learn PHP ... so I am thinking about implementing an open source forum code in Scala.

But does that make sense? Forums do not have high performance or scalability requirements ... and Java hosting is more expensive, so even if my forum software is free, most people will not use it.

Am I missing cases where a forum written in Scala / Java makes sense and is preferable to a PHP (or similar) forum?

I found, for example, the following:

http://java-source.net/open-source/forum-software

But it seems to be abandoned as indicated here:

http://www.coderanch.com/t/497053/Ranch-Office/forum-has-been-built-JForum

So, I’m probably right that simple and cheap and slow are much more suitable for forum = PHP?

Answer 1

I think the open source forum written in Scala would be useful if you could structure it so that it integrates seamlessly with existing web applications using the Lift and Play frameworks.

Your target audience should be anyone who writes a web application in Scala who wants to enter the forum. The prospect of using a php-based solution will not be attractive for these developers, but it will not redefine the wheel either. You have a pretty convincing value proposition if you create a well-written, easy-to-implement solution using the same stack that they already use.

Answer 2

It depends on the purpose of the exercise.

You want to learn Scala and you need a project for exercises: Everything goes, as well as the forum. But it would probably be more interesting to participate in some existing open source project. Think about the first 5 libraries that you are likely to consider for a project (logging, testing, web framework), check them, find the one that is open for input. Take an error or function request and try to implement it.

You need a forum. Forget it. Use some existing solution.

Someone makes you write a forum If something like hosts on an almost arbitrary web space is not a requirement, use Scala.

Do you want to prove your strength to Scala yourself or someone else ? Go for something more complicated (Big Data, Akka ...)