Textual Modeling Tools: Overview and Penalty Shoot-out
Bernhard Merkle discusses the various types of DSLs, and compares different language workbenches by using them with the same custom DSL in order to outline the differences between them.
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Google Dart Roundup: Dart to JS Compiler Frog, Pre-Built Editor/IDE Binaries, Type System Proposals
Pre-built versions of Dart Editor, the Eclipse-based Dart IDE, are now available, making it easy to try Dart. Frog is a new Dart to Javascript compiler - written in Dart by the creator of the Jython and IronPython projects. Meanwhile the Dart team has been busy explaining the Dart language and proposing features to round out the type system, eg. nullable types and more.
Google Dart Language and Tools Announced - Dynamic Language, Optionally Typed, Familiar Syntax
Google has announced a new language: Google Dart and tools. The language and tools are currently considered a technology preview, and an open source release is available now. The language is not yet in Chrome. Dart is dynamic, optional types and reified Generics. Concurrency uses Erlang-style processes called Isolates, share nothing with async message passing.
The State of JRuby: 1.6 RC1, JSR 292 and NIO2 in Java 7, 1.9.2 Support
The first RC for JRuby 1.6 is out and brings improved Ruby 1.9.2 compatibility, experimental C extensions support, improved Windows support, Ruby Gems Maven support, performance and profiling improvements and more. InfoQ talked to JRuby's Charles Nutter about JRuby 1.6, the impact of Java 7 on JRuby, new language features in Ruby and much more.
Articles about Language Design
A Blend of Java and Ruby - The Mirah Language
Mirah is a new language for the JVM that can do everything the Java language can do - but with a Ruby-ish syntax and powerful metaprogramming. InfoQ talks to Mirah's creator Charles Nutter.
Presentations about Language Design
OOPSLA Keynote: The Power Of Abstraction
In a reprise of her ACM Turing Award lecture, Barbara Liskov discusses the invention of abstract data types, the CLU programming language, clusters, polymorphism, exception handling, iterators, implementation inheritance, type hierarchies, the Liskov Substitution Principle, polymorphism, and future challenges such as new abstractions, parallelism, and the Internet.
The State of the DSL Art in Ruby
In this talk Glenn Vanderburg discusses what the Ruby community has learned about building DSLs, and shows how to build state-of-the-art DSLs without going overboard.
Evolving the Java Language
At QCon 2008, Neal Gafter discusses how to evolve a widely deployed language without causing disruption using planned changes for JDK7 (superpackages, closures, annotations on types, type inference, exception handling, and self types) as an example. He examines how the changes are conditioned by preexisting language design choices, and discusses their influence on API design.
Interviews about Language Design
Scala, Erlang, F# Creators Discuss Functional Languages
In this interview from the Erlang Factory event in London, three creators of modern functional languages -- Martin Odersky, creator of Scala; Joe Armstrong, a creator of Erlang; and Don Syme, creator of F# -- discuss the similarities and differences of their creations. They also discuss their languages’ common thread -- that they integrate object-oriented features in functional languages.
Mariano Guerra on the Efene and Erlang VM as Language Platform
Mariano Guerra talks about Efene, a new language that targets the Erlang VM, which attempts to provide nicer syntax than Erlang.
Simon Thompson and John Hughes on Functional Programming with Erlang and Haskell
Functional programming experts Simon Thompson and John Hughes discuss functional programming in today’s computing environments, particularly through the use of the Erlang and Haskell languages. In addition to debating the intricacies of both languages and their similarities and differences, Thompson and Hughes also discuss the growing popularity and maturity if functional programming.