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Is Scala Really the Next C++?

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Re: Is Scala Really the Next C++?

#2
Why wouldn't Erlang be the next C++? Erlang's fast, compiled, but still flexible and dynamically, strongly typed. It has a type inference engine so you can look over your code, and it's fairly easy to do IDE integration with Erlang.

Erlang's distribution and multi-threading primitives are unbelievably well tested, and everyone could learn a thing or two from the OTP model.

I can't imagine why we'd ever consider Scala over Erlang.

Re: Is Scala Really the Next C++?

#3

Why wouldn't Erlang be the next C++? Erlang's fast, compiled, but still flexible and dynamically, strongly typed. It has a type inference engine so you can look over your code, and it's fairly easy to do IDE integration with Erlang. Erlang's distribution and multi-threading primitives are unbelievably well tested, and everyone could learn a thing or two from the OTP model. I can't imagine why we'd ever consider Scala…

Cause Erlang is a point solution that is totally painful outside of its target domain and has practically no library support.

Re: Is Scala Really the Next C++?

#4

Why wouldn't Erlang be the next C++? Erlang's fast, compiled, but still flexible and dynamically, strongly typed. It has a type inference engine so you can look over your code, and it's fairly easy to do IDE integration with Erlang. Erlang's distribution and multi-threading primitives are unbelievably well tested, and everyone could learn a thing or two from the OTP model. I can't imagine why we'd ever consider Scala…

"I can't imagine why we'd ever consider Scala over Erlang."

Primarily because you're forced to use the JVM by some executive degree or similar. Likewise, if you're in a .NET shop you'd want to consider F#.

All that aside - I'm a huge Erlang fan.

Re: Is Scala Really the Next C++?

#5

Why wouldn't Erlang be the next C++? Erlang's fast, compiled, but still flexible and dynamically, strongly typed. It has a type inference engine so you can look over your code, and it's fairly easy to do IDE integration with Erlang. Erlang's distribution and multi-threading primitives are unbelievably well tested, and everyone could learn a thing or two from the OTP model. I can't imagine why we'd ever consider Scala…

Scala's concurrency model is based on Erlang actually, although the Scala actors are not OS independent like Erlang, but the message passing mechanism and the concept of light weight processes independent of each other exchanging messages( no shared states ) is common to both. Scala runs on the JVM so its much easier to integrate it with huge java projects, and its performance is comparable with Java, and its being promoted in a big way by many of the big names in the industry. I see scala being widely accepted, whatever little I've used of it, I really love!

Re: Is Scala Really the Next C++?

#6

Why wouldn't Erlang be the next C++? Erlang's fast, compiled, but still flexible and dynamically, strongly typed. It has a type inference engine so you can look over your code, and it's fairly easy to do IDE integration with Erlang. Erlang's distribution and multi-threading primitives are unbelievably well tested, and everyone could learn a thing or two from the OTP model. I can't imagine why we'd ever consider Scala…

I think you missed the point of the comparison. One of the reasons C++ took off was that it was deliberately compatible with C (the dominant language at the time), so you didn't have to discard your existing C code and could ramp up from your existing skills. Likewise, today the dominant language is Java, and Scala compiles down to Java bytecode and allows you to continue to use your existing Java libraries. To my knowledge Erlang doesn't have these capabilities.

Re: Is Scala Really the Next C++?

#7

Why wouldn't Erlang be the next C++? Erlang's fast, compiled, but still flexible and dynamically, strongly typed. It has a type inference engine so you can look over your code, and it's fairly easy to do IDE integration with Erlang. Erlang's distribution and multi-threading primitives are unbelievably well tested, and everyone could learn a thing or two from the OTP model. I can't imagine why we'd ever consider Scala…

Erlang's fast? Compared to what? Scala is usually about as fast as Java. Not trolling. Genuinely curious.

Re: Is Scala Really the Next C++?

#8
post #6

Why wouldn't Erlang be the next C++? Erlang's fast, compiled, but still flexible and dynamically, strongly typed. It has a type inference engine so you can look over your code, and it's fairly easy to do IDE integration with Erlang. Erlang's distribution and multi-threading primitives are unbelievably well tested, and everyone could learn a thing or two from the OTP model. I can't imagine why we'd ever consider Scala…

I think you missed the point of the comparison. One of the reasons C++ took off was that it was deliberately compatible with C (the dominant language at the time), so you didn't have to discard your existing C code and could ramp up from your existing skills. Likewise, today the dominant language is Java, and Scala compiles down to Java bytecode and allows you to continue to use your existing Java libraries. To my kn…

Good comment. We can't only look at the merits of the language itself, but also see wider context and circumstances in the software world. Thus my answer to the original question is: No, it isn't.

Re: Is Scala Really the Next C++?

#9
here's a pdf about the language http://www.scala-lang.org/docu/files/ScalaByExample.pdf

it's definitely not bad. whether or not a language has first-class functions is a major point for me, and Scala has strong support for functional programming and even has some specialized sugar for it

the only thing i don't like about it is the type/object stuff, which always feels unnecessary

Re: Is Scala Really the Next C++?

#10

Why wouldn't Erlang be the next C++? Erlang's fast, compiled, but still flexible and dynamically, strongly typed. It has a type inference engine so you can look over your code, and it's fairly easy to do IDE integration with Erlang. Erlang's distribution and multi-threading primitives are unbelievably well tested, and everyone could learn a thing or two from the OTP model. I can't imagine why we'd ever consider Scala…

Erlang's fast? Compared to what? Scala is usually about as fast as Java. Not trolling. Genuinely curious.

Erlang is fast if you are using multicore processors because it scales [almost] linerly by performance by core number.
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