With Java getting value types, record types, and pattern matching it will end up giving all the other JVM languages a run for their money. Today, Kotlin is much more approachable than Scala, not to mention better tooling. Once Java catches up though, it will be a different story.
I'm not aware that they are. It's a nice feature, but it might introduce unnecessary indirection is used inappropriately, that and the vast majority of languages get by without it without any significant hindrance.
