> At JavaOne on Monday I spoke on the topic of "The Next Big JVM Language". My conclusion wasn't what I expected it to be when I started researching the topic. Read on to find my conclusion...
That seems ironic given the conclusion of the post. The reasons for rejection of Clojure and Scala are respectively "Clojure is too different fom Java", and "Scala is too powerful".
It's almost comical how well this encapsulates Blub programming (http://c2.com/cgi/wiki?BlubParadox ). or more to the point, assumptions about blub programmers by the author, who clearly at least understands programming languages.
The thing about this is, I don't see why we have to replace Java. The power of the JVM is that there need not be One True Language To Rule Them All.
Let people program in Clojure or Scala or JavaScript or Ruby. Design sensible interfaces for data interchange, and let people get on with their lives (and promote Polyglotism!).
Searching for the Next Big JVM Language is like searching for the next Facebook. Sure there are going to be new popular entrants, but the ecosystem is such that there will never be another Java, just the same way there won't be another Facebook.
Change is hard, and it challenges lazy thinking in blog posts like this.
The question is, how much do you gain from this power or difference? That's the real challenge of language design, not what you put in, but what you keep out.
Comments
> At JavaOne on Monday I spoke on the topic of "The Next Big JVM Language". My conclusion wasn't what I expected it to be when I started researching the topic. Read on to find my conclusion...
That seems ironic given the conclusion of the post. The reasons for rejection of Clojure and Scala are respectively "Clojure is too different fom Java", and "Scala is too powerful".
It's almost comical how well this encapsulates Blub programming (http://c2.com/cgi/wiki?BlubParadox ). or more to the point, assumptions about blub programmers by the author, who clearly at least understands programming languages.
The thing about this is, I don't see why we have to replace Java. The power of the JVM is that there need not be One True Language To Rule Them All.
Let people program in Clojure or Scala or JavaScript or Ruby. Design sensible interfaces for data interchange, and let people get on with their lives (and promote Polyglotism!).
Searching for the Next Big JVM Language is like searching for the next Facebook. Sure there are going to be new popular entrants, but the ecosystem is such that there will never be another Java, just the same way there won't be another Facebook.
Change is hard, and it challenges lazy thinking in blog posts like this.
The question is, how much do you gain from this power or difference? That's the real challenge of language design, not what you put in, but what you keep out.