Christopher Smith wrote:
I think that the answer here is probably that Java--the language needs
to stop evolving and give way to a better language on the JVM.
The JVM has specific problems that make this a difficult and limiting
option. The JVM was very much defined as a language specific VM. They're
trying to extend it now to be a bit more flexible, but the result will
inevitably be very much like what happened with Java Genrics, because
the problem is very much the same.
I don't agree. The JVM can evolve with much more impunity than the Java
language itself.
The JVM can be completely torn out and replaced as long as it provides
some way for Java the language to hold to its guarantees.
The CLR is much better in this regard, but far from perfect.
Scala seems to do a much better job of implementing what Java should
have been while still integrating cleanly with Java and the JVM.
Well... that's very much a matter of opinion. Mr. Gosling certainly
wouldn't agree with that. Nor would a few people who have used it:
http://creativekarma.com/ee.php/weblog/comments/my_verdict_on_the_scala_language/
http://unenterprise.blogspot.com/2008/01/why-not-scala.html
Well, in my opinion, it's meant for Java refugees who can't quite make
the full jump to JRuby, Jython, JScheme, etc.
I used Scala for a while and I *really* liked its Actors implementation.
I didn't stay with Scala because I'm not a refugee coming *up* from
Java. I would be coming *down* from Python, Perl, Tcl, Ruby, etc.
Scala doesn't offer me enough over Python, Perl, Tcl, Ruby, etc. to be
worth fighting with.
In addition, it's an immature language with poor documentation. Somehow
that didn't stop other languages we know though ...
Interestingly, some of the criticisms I've seen leveled at Scala mirror
ones I've seen leveled at JDK 1.5.
Probably because people are trying to provide more powerful constructs
and haven't quite figured out how shoehorn them into grammar just yet.
The longer I'm at this, the more I'm becoming convinced that the scheme
folks have it right. More advanced concepts require *less* grammar, not
more. Otherwise you get overwhelmed with the interactions.
-a
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