Earlier quoted context omitted.
> On the one hand it's more "serious" than [legacy] C, C++, Java, and Python because it had first-class functions and real lexical closures from day one. Why do closures make a language "serious"? To me languages are just languages. Seriousness is defined the problem you are solving. Are flight controls serious? Probably. Is yet another small scale CRUD app serious? Probably not. There is a lot of "serious" code writ…
Good question. I'll try to give my answer, but others will have their own opinions. Computer languages move in the direction of supporting "good ideas" as those ideas become generally recognized as being good. Usually those ideas start in academia and gradually find their way to industry. Some examples: Structured ("goto-less") programming, object-oriented programming, automatic memory management, strong typing, lexi…
The "serious" professional choice for my company (an OS vendor, with a focus on certifiable systems) is currently C. The tooling we use is for C, the expertise within my company is in C, and the industry that we work with understands and expects C.
At some point, the operating systems industry will transition to more modern languages. Rust is promising, but it is a long way from being a serious consideration for FAA certifiable projects.