Groovy’s creator endorses Scala. Scala is very promising. When I first read Odersky’s academic paper several years ago, I was put off by the complexity of the type system. But it becomes more attractive when you look at the everyday programming aspects of the language. It does a very nice job of synthesizing functional and OO programming, and eliminating a lot of the boilerplate in Java. I would consider Scala for my own work, except that it depends on Java for UI, which is an epic failure. But for server-side programming Scala is a promising alternative to Java.
Illustrative Programming
Martin Fowler has a new post in which he coins the term Illustrative Programming for what I have been calling Example Centric Programming. He gives me a nice plug too. Martin is a keen observer of trends in programming, and his terminological inventions have had an enormous influence on the practice of patterns, refactoring, and now DSL’s. I see his latest neologism as an indicator of the increasing relevance of the idea.
Wagn
Check it out. Cross between a Wiki and a database. And a semantic database at that, where all fields/attributes are binary associations. See plus cards and formatting. Very cute. Has an embedded query language, using JSON syntax. Needs an embedded update language.
Repenting Syntax
Forgive me, for I have sinned. I have been seduced by Syntax — by its offer of quick implementation shortcuts, and by its promise of easy acceptance into the establishment. All lies, leading to perdition! I cast you out, Syntax! Continue reading “Repenting Syntax”
Semi-rejection
Onward has rejected my paper, but invites me to cut it in half and resubmit it. I feel like withdrawing the paper, but will probably swallow my pride. Continue reading “Semi-rejection”