On Feb 13, 2009, at 8:51 PM, Ed wrote:
> > On Feb 13, 6:10 am, Robert Fischer <[email protected]> > wrote: >> Why does it have to be Clojure *or* Scala? > > Because (besides domain specific languages) this world cannot deal > with more than one language at a time. In the 70's it was C, the 80's > it was [hold on to your keyboards] C++, then Java, now the world is > thinking if C# only ran on *nix/Mac and variants we'd all be forced by > employers to sling C#. As soon as someone develops a compiler for > JavaScript we'll all be forced to write JavaScript...since Web 2.0 is > getting most of the press these days and everyone knows the trade rags > don't lie. I think this is completely wrong on two points. First, the world has never standardized on a single language (at least not since the early 60s). While particular industries have standardized on a single language at particular times, the computing industry as a whole has always been multi-language. In the 70's it was C for the Unix world, but other areas used different languages like Lisp, ADA, Simula, Forth, and many others were in common use. Second, the age where a successful programmer knows only one language are rapidly coming to a close. With the advent of widely available high performance virtual machines and language generation tools, it easier than ever to create a new language. This has resulted in the proliferation of new language that are amazingly productive in certain areas. A modern UI developer has to know Java, JavaScript, HTML, XML, and possibly SQL. And that's before you start working with newer more productive languages like Ruby, Groovy, and JavaFX Script. I suspect the next big area for research will be language interoperability. To suggest that the world can only accept one language at a time is simply not true. The world has always used multiple languages, and it's only going to increase (a *lot*). What will be the new Java or C? The answer is nothing. Just like nothing replaced motion pictures, but instead augmented them. - Josh --~--~---------~--~----~------------~-------~--~----~ You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "The Java Posse" group. To post to this group, send email to [email protected] To unsubscribe from this group, send email to [email protected] For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/javaposse?hl=en -~----------~----~----~----~------~----~------~--~---
