The Dynamics of Dynamic Languages

By Frank Stepan

Ten years ago S&S Media started Java Magazine in Germany which has since been published more than 100 times and has garnered a worldwide reputation of being the biggest independent publication on Java.

Since its birth in 2005, SDA Asia Magazine has dedicated intense coverage to Java as well.

Ten years is a long time to be in the IT industry and there are only a few people in the industry who have made it into their 50ies, namely Microsoft’s Bill Gates, Sun Microsystems’ Scott McNealy and let’s not forget Meg Whitman from Ebay.

By now you would be asking yourself, yes that sounds all good, but what does this have to do with Java?

Let me get back to that but this time–about JavaFX, the big surprise that SUN presented at last year’s Java One. Java FX is a dynamic scripting language which helps you to build websites-- mainly interactive websites or the so-called Rich Clients-- the fast way.

So does this mean you will have to eventually learn Java? Not at all. It’s a scripting language and scripting languages are basically easy to learn. It is not about “definition”, but “configuration”, i.e., please do not define every detail from 0 for the 100th time but use routines that are already available. So you can configure it yourself and– as the Ruby on Rails rule states - do not repeat yourself! And if I may add: “do not repeat others either.” That means you should look around what’s already available which is often a rule of open source software, isn’t it?

The advantage of Dynamic Languages is that it is not so complex and the learning curve isn’t all that steep compared to the other languages. This is an important factor given the fact that good resources and qualified staff are scarce nowadays. Dynamic Languages help to get tasks done much faster.

What sets Dynamic Languages apart from the rest lies in its sheer numbers. There are many of them nowadays – even a few from Microsoft. Besides Ironpython and Ironruby, we have F# as an equal language to C# for the .NET framework. And there have been more additions to the platform including neutral ones as well.

Although it has existed since 1993, LUA ('http://lua.org') has recently gained a lot of traction especially for its deployment in embedded systems. PHP is still gaining market share and Ruby has never looked more appealing!

In a nutshell, the World of Dynamic Languages remains dynamic and SDA Asia will see to it that you are kept cool and stay abreast on all future developments.