From mboxrd@z Thu Jan 1 00:00:00 1970 Received: (from majordomo@localhost) by pauillac.inria.fr (8.7.6/8.7.3) id QAA21069; Sun, 29 Aug 2004 16:58:14 +0200 (MET DST) X-Authentication-Warning: pauillac.inria.fr: majordomo set sender to owner-caml-list@pauillac.inria.fr using -f Received: from nez-perce.inria.fr (nez-perce.inria.fr [192.93.2.78]) by pauillac.inria.fr (8.7.6/8.7.3) with ESMTP id QAA22922 for ; Sun, 29 Aug 2004 16:58:12 +0200 (MET DST) Received: from herd.plethora.net (herd.plethora.net [205.166.146.1]) by nez-perce.inria.fr (8.13.0/8.13.0) with ESMTP id i7TEw9HE024519 for ; Sun, 29 Aug 2004 16:58:10 +0200 Received: from bhurt.plethora.net (bhurt.plethora.net [205.166.146.49]) by herd.plethora.net (8.11.6/8.10.1) with ESMTP id i7TEw5B05447; Sun, 29 Aug 2004 09:58:05 -0500 (CDT) Date: Sun, 29 Aug 2004 10:06:56 -0500 (CDT) From: Brian Hurt X-X-Sender: bhurt@localhost.localdomain To: John Goerzen cc: caml Subject: Re: [Caml-list] Re: (GC issues) Alternative Bytecodes for OCaml In-Reply-To: <20040829125846.GA12516@complete.org> Message-ID: MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: TEXT/PLAIN; charset=US-ASCII X-Miltered: at nez-perce with ID 4131EF01.000 by Joe's j-chkmail (http://j-chkmail.ensmp.fr)! X-Loop: caml-list@inria.fr X-Spam: no; 0.00; caml-list:01 bytecodes:01 python:01 cobol:01 disgusted:01 python:01 lights:99 ocaml:01 ocaml:01 ruby:02 business:96 wrote:03 tail:03 fortran:03 perl:03 Sender: owner-caml-list@pauillac.inria.fr Precedence: bulk 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 ------------------- To unsubscribe, mail caml-list-request@inria.fr Archives: http://caml.inria.fr Bug reports: http://caml.inria.fr/bin/caml-bugs FAQ: http://caml.inria.fr/FAQ/ Beginner's list: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ocaml_beginners