Of course the one thing that you fail to mention is that no JVM based languages (including Scala) can be called a popular language since they dont even make the top 20.
I have personal experience with Python , Jpython is a port to JVM and not only that JPython is special in a way that not only can use any Java library out of the box but also has support for CPython libraries (which by very far the most popular python implementation out there) and still its barely alive. The irony is that in the end people that are mostly interested about JVM or JS are JS and JAVA coders mainly. Coders from other language tend to stick with their own language mainly because both Java and Javascript though both incredible big platforms they are both a huge mess. Redline was a good effort that now looks like abandonware. Amber is barely active. Those are common patterns for pretty much any language that decides to embrace JVM or JS as platforms. And you can use java libraries from Pharo via JNIPort http://www.smalltalkhub.com/#!/~JNIPort/JNIPort https://sites.google.com/site/jniport/project-definition I wanted to use python libraries from pharo , I did not go to implement pharo or port pharo to Cpython, all I did was to create a communication bridge via sockets and I did that in less that 100 lines of python code. Its easy , fast and simple. Nothing stops anyone from interfacing pharo with any popular platform or other language. The fact that people prefer to stick with pharo frameworks and libraries sends a clear message. *Invest in Pharo , this is what our community is focused on. * On Fri, Dec 11, 2015 at 8:36 PM Richard Eng <horrido.hobb...@gmail.com> wrote: > According to TIOBE, which is hardly a reliable metric, this month Java and > Python are enjoying a massive upswing in popularity. In fact, TIOBE will > most likely name Java *Programming Language of the Year* for 2015. (Both > languages have been on an upward trajectory all year.) > > It's not hard to understand why Java's popularity is improving. Android > programming is becoming more important, as the platform has begun to exceed > iOS in terms of user experience with the advent of Lollipop and > Marshmallow. Then there's the rise of the "Internet of Things," where Java > seems to be well-suited. > > (I'm not sure what explains Python's bump in popularity, though. Maybe > there's an increasing appetite for languages that are easy to learn. A > clean, simple syntax is very, very important!) > > I think, more than ever, we need to have Smalltalk on the JVM. Java cannot > be allowed to hog the limelight of IT. I was pinning my hopes on Redline, > but I'm not sanguine about its future progress. > > Rather than waste time with PharoJS, wouldn't it be more prudent to focus > on putting Pharo on the JVM? >
