Typesafe brings SpringSource co-founder Rod Johnson aboard

Just in time for JavaOne, Typesafe has named Rod Johnson, co-founder of SpringSource, to its board. Typesafe is the company behind Scala — a programming language it pushes as a better Java than Java — and Johnson’s experience at SpringSource, a maker Java-centric application development tools bought by VMware in 2009, gives him credibility here. Johnson is also on the board of Meteor Development, another hot language startup.

Typesafe, based in Menlo Park, CA,  is positioning both the Scala language and related Akka software stack as top-tier tools for both web and enterprise development because they attack two key issues: The language makes it easier to write code to run on multiple cores and Akka eases the creation of applications that run across multiple servers. A third piece of the Typesafe puzzle is Play, a Ruby-on-Rails-style framework.

In a statement, Johnson said:

“Today’s computing environments are moving towards multicore hardware and cloud computing workloads. Typesafe is strategically positioned to provide innovate solutions with its modern Scala and Akka-based software stack and developer tools for the next wave of applications.”

SpringSource co-founder Rod Johnson

Update: Typesafe co-founder and chief architect Martin Odersky wrote the current version of the  original Java compiler for Sun Microsystems, and is something of a superstar for programmers. His Coursera class on the language drew a whopping 45,000 registrants and he will be talking about the upcoming Scala release at JavaOne this week in San francisco. For more on Scala Release 2.10, see this InfoWorld report. Typesafe also  launched a mobile app Friday for Android and iPhones for Scala developers going into the show

Last June, Typesafe brought in new CEO, Mark Brewer, former VP of business operations for VMware’s Cloud Application Platform,  to drive its enterprise push.