lua-users home
lua-l archive

[Date Prev][Date Next][Thread Prev][Thread Next] [Date Index] [Thread Index]


On 11/08/2011 10:27, steve donovan wrote:
It does look good. Not sure that the world needs another language, [...]

A question coming with each announce of a new language, ie. some fifty-two times per year (made up figure, of course). Particularly in the JVM world, with the announces of Gosu, Mirah, Ceylon, Kotlin, etc. "Why make a new language when we have the awesome Scala?" <- often prompted because the new languages feel the need to compare to Scala, promising more simplicity, while detractors say that then they loose power and flexibility.

Why make a new language?
- Because it is fun! (that alone is probably the main cause for proliferation) - Because of some frustration with the existing languages (on syntax, on limitations, etc.)

There are some languages inspired more or less by Lua, but not much using the LuaVM and even less producing Lua code, so it is an interesting product. I wonder how hard it would be to produce JavaScript instead. It is a common target for compilers today, because it is so pervasive / cross-platform, and recent performances of JS engines make it a more realistic target.

--
Philippe Lhoste
--  (near) Paris -- France
--  http://Phi.Lho.free.fr
--  --  --  --  --  --  --  --  --  --  --  --  --  --