For sure, the compilation times can get pretty bad with Scala, although I haven't found it too terrible on smaller prototype projects (I agree its still quite slow compared to some other languages though).

These day's I've been using Bloop (https://scalacenter.github.io/bloop/) which makes Scala compilation super fast. It keeps a hot compiler running in a daemon and takes incremental compilation to a whole new level for Scala, truly a game changer for me.