Re: [Caml-list] Re: (GC issues) Alternative Bytecodes for OCaml

[Brian Hurt <bhurt@spnz.org>]

On Sun, 29 Aug 2004, John Goerzen wrote:

> Frankly, there is more to a language than who wins in the "marketplace".
> If that is all that matters, we should all just go home now, because
> VB, Java, C++, and C# have far more share of the marketplace than Python.

20 years ago, it would have been C, Fortran, Cobol, and Pascal.  The thing 
marketplace adherents miss is that the marketplace changes.  20 years ago, 
Basic was a toy for kids, C++ had maybe two users one of who was named 
Bjarne, and Java wasn't even a twinkle in Gosling's eye.  

Things can change.  Things will change.  The only question left is how 
will things change.

One of my big hopes for Ocaml is actually open source development.  Open
source is attacking a lot of the same problems as commercial software- but
without the pointy haired bosses to maneuver around.  An increasing number
of developers are disgusted with C++ and are looking for alternatives.  
Perl is just as bad for application development.  Java has performance
issues and even more importantly, it has religous issues- it's not open
source and it's controlled by Sun.  Python and Ruby have performance
problems.  C# is controlled by Microsoft (I think the Mono project is
doomed- the question is not if Microsoft will yank the rug out from under
them, it's when.  Following Microsoft's tail lights is self defeating in
multiple ways).  There's been an upsurge in projects based on C, and 
Objective C (a language that was dead in 1990) has enjoyed a 
"renaissance".

I think it's quite possible for Open Source to adopt Ocaml en masse.  And 
that, with Open Source driving Ocaml popularity, business will start 
adopting it.

-- 
"Usenet is like a herd of performing elephants with diarrhea -- massive,
difficult to redirect, awe-inspiring, entertaining, and a source of
mind-boggling amounts of excrement when you least expect it."
                                - Gene Spafford 
Brian

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