I agree. To me, C# seems to be a case of growth beyond what is productive for a language. It's getting more and more of the functional qualities that attract many of us to newer languages, yet clings to the C-like syntax of the past. Then it's also got the query expression syntax as well. It's starting to look more like a bodybuilder on steroids rather than an Adonis:)
On Fri, Jul 1, 2011 at 3:20 PM, Jon Kiparsky <[email protected]> wrote: > Thinking about this, I think I'm curious to know what exactly is meant when > someone says a language is "dead". What are some "dead" languages, besides > java? Would C be considered "dead"? How about FORTRAN? BASIC? Pascal? PL/1? > Algol? > To me, the use of a term like "dead" suggests a life cycle, and I'd say > Java, like C, is "mature" but far from dead. It's stopped growing, but > that's a good thing - at some point, continued physical growth is more like > cancer than development. It's still learning new tricks - people continue to > add libraries and uses - and it's still a productive citizen - at least, > it's in use all around me. Pascal, you might say, is in retirement. It > doesn't do a lot these days, but it sits around telling the kids how it used > to do things. BASIC is senescent - it has returned to its childhood, and > seems to intend to stay there for the rest of its days. PL/1, I suppose is > dead, and I don't know that it's very much missed. > This doesn't mean that Java is or should want to be the final word in > languages. There are always new children coming along, and with any luck > they grow up and become mature and productive citizens, like Python seems to > have done. Clojure, we might call a childish language. It's still got a lot > to learn, but it shows great promise. Someday, it too will be the language > that remembers its former vigor and vitality and contemplates its own > mortality - but not yet, it'll say. It'll still have a lot to offer, and > it'll shrug its shoulders and take out the garbage and get down to another > day's work. All that's far in the future, though - at least six months off, > maybe eight. > > > On Fri, Jul 1, 2011 at 2:56 PM, clay <[email protected]> wrote: >> >> It's ridiculous to say that Java is dead. >> >> When I glance at the Strange Loop conference, Java ecosystem tools are >> quite prevalent: Scala is extremely popular, Clojure is popular as >> well, Akka is a Scala/Java lib that has some brilliant ideas, neo4j is >> very exciting it's attacking some really interesting problems and has >> a lot of momentum, and Android is prevalent on the client side. There >> is also lots of non-Java tools and languages that are amazing and many >> brilliant toolset-agnostic concepts. >> >> If you are excited about the Strange Loop type stuff, Java (the >> ecosystem) is connected to a lot of that and is quite vibrant. If you >> have some weird militant hatred for Java, sure there are great >> alternatives. >> >> Java the language itself has stagnated... I'd argue that the Python >> language isn't particularly interesting by itself, although many of >> the libraries that are being built within the Python space are >> absolutely amazing and cutting edge. >> >> On Jul 1, 10:06 am, robogeek <[email protected]> wrote: >> >> > We at Sun (I was there for 10+ years) failed to make Java a compelling >> > platform for anything but server side applications. And even there -- >> > with my experience of working with Node.js over the last 6 months, >> > there are up-and-coming alternatives that could render Java moot for >> > server side stuff. >> > >> > When some things die they linger for years and some people continue >> > thinking of the thing as still alive. Aren't there still people >> > writing new COBOL? >> > >> > + David >> > Herronhttp://davidherron.comhttp://www.packtpub.com/node-javascript-web-development/book >> >> -- >> 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. >> > > -- > 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. > -- Jeb Beich http://www.jebbeich.com -- 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.
