Scala is a general purpose programming language that smoothly integrates object-oriented and functional programming. It allows programmers to express common patterns in a concise and elegant way, while also being fully interoperable with Java. The document provides examples demonstrating how Scala code can be more succinct than Java when performing common tasks like creating a map or defining a class to represent a person. Key features of Scala mentioned include actors for concurrency, functional programming capabilities, and seamless integration with Java.

1. Why Scala? (or why not Java?)