Programming languages…what to expect in future?

Today the number of programming languages is beyond measure. Even being a quite skilled specialist you can easily get lost in the sea of object-oriented, functional, imperative, dynamic, compiled, interpreted, and scripting languages. Nevertheless, developers continue writing code on the proven Java, C ++, JavaScript, PHP etc. So do we really need new programming languages?

However, in spite of the capacity and multifunctionality of popular languages, no one’s syntax is perfectly universal at the moment. Moreover, the programming is constantly developing. The spread of multi-core processors, cloud software, mobility, and distributed architectures have created new challenges for developers that require new approaches and new tools to solve them. Adding support for the latest features, paradigms, and patterns to already existing languages, especially the most popular may be quite complicated and sometimes the best solution is to start from the scratch.

Below a few programming languages are represented, each of them can seriously affect the current programming: solve a certain problem or eliminate disadvantages of the most popular languages nowadays.

1. Ceylon

This program language is quite similar to Java, but is not its clear version of course. Gavin King denies the fact that the developed language in Red Hat will be a “Java Killer”. King is well-known for the creation of ORM framework, Hibernate for Java. He likes Java, still considers that there is a lot of staff to be improved.

Among those things that are dissatisfied by King in Java are detailed syntax of the language, the lack of top features and higher-order functions, as well as the lack of support of meta-programming. He is particularly aggrieved with the shortage of declarative syntax for structured data defining, which, according to King’s words, “equates Java to XML». Ceylon aims to solve all these problems.
There is no any Ceylon virtual machines, Ceylon-compiler will produce java-bytecode that can run on JVM. But the language will be more than just compiler. Instead of XML it uses similar to JSON the declarative syntax for data tree structure has a static typing and modules system and supports a number of structures lack in Java – sequence, intersection and union. The strategic goal of this project is to create a new set of developer for Ceylon, which will replace Java, which, according to King, is “swollen”, clumsy and still not thoroughly modernized.

Also it’s said that Ceylon and Scala overap in many features, however there are lots of very curious points that distinguish it. Ceylon strengths against Scala are in: providing modularity, union/intersection types, abstraction over function, runtime metaprogramming.

2. Dart

Javascript was forced upon the world because it was the only language usable for client-side scripting. It suites well for creating the basic dynamics on the page, but once the application starts grow, you can see the shortcomings of JS. Thus, Google developers have created Dart and it has come to compete with Javascript. It’s very likely that Dart may accustom to web programming quite permanently.

As well as in JS, Dart uses C-like syntax and keywords. However, one significant difference is that while JS is based on the prototypes, objects in Dart are determined by using classes and interfaces, like C ++ or Java. Dart also allows programmers to further define variables with static types. The idea is to make the Dart as familiar, dynamic and flexible language as JavaScript, which at the same time allows developers to write code, quick and easy in its execution, and where it is tough to make an error. Inherently, dart is created to run fast by being less permissive than JavaScript. There is a newly written from scratch VM that is designed specifically for Dart and is designed to be fast.

Among the biggest benefit of Dart is that it’s familiar and easy to learn for developers with backgrounds in Java/ActionScript/C# and JavaScript.

Today Dart is not used much. It has been developed to run either on the client or server (like Node.js), but the only way to run the client version of the Dart-code is its Cross Compilation in JavaScript. Even working like this it doesn’t work in all browsers. Still Dart is released under a free license such as BSD, and any seller who agrees with the Google terms can use the language for his products without any payment.

3. F#

Functional programming has been popular for a long time, but purely functional languages as Lisp and Haskell are often considered unsuitable for the software development, due to the fact that the codes of functional type are difficult to combine with the codes and libraries that are written in imperative languages (C ++, or Java).

F# language has been developed by Microsoft to unite the functionality and practicality. Since F # is the language of first-class on .Net CLR, it maintains the same libraries and functions like other CLR languages (such as C # or Visual Basic).

F# code is similar to OCaml code, but has its own interesting syntax. For instance, to facilitate the scientific calculations numeric data types in F # can be units of measure. Also F# has constructions to facilitate asynchronous input/output, CPU parallelization and output processes on the graphics processor.

The downside of F# is that it is not designed for a developer to dig into the details of how things are done like he would in an imperative programming language like C#. Despite the main downside, the upside is that F# can result in software that is more reliable, secure, and runs at a higher speed. It is more streamlined, and can allow an able practitioner to accomplish more things in a shorter amount of time.

In the past five years, F# has continued to gain its popularity, and Microsoft has detailed how the language has helped to solve complicated programming problems in industries as diverse as banking, insurance and energy.

Today the functional language comes with Visual Studio 2010, that is even better, but it’s not typical for the Microsoft corporation as the F # compiler and core library are available under the open Apache license. It’s free, and you can even use it on Mac, and Linux (using Mono runtime).

4. GO

Interpreters, virtual machines, and control codes are very popular today. The Google team of engineers leading by Robert Griesemer Ken Thompson and Rob Pike have developed Go – programming language for general purpose, which is suitable for everything: starting from application development up to programming systems. In this sense it is more like C or C ++, than Java or C #. Still as the latest languages, Go includes such advanced features as memory cleaning from unnecessary data, reflection of current processes etc.

Also it’s important that the language was created for easy programming. Its basic syntax is similar to C, but Go deletes unnecessary repetition during optimization programs such as objects definition. The aim of Go team was to create the language which it would be convenient to write codes on, as well as on a dynamic scripting language, still which at the same time would had the power of compiled languages.

As it has begun to grow in prominence, the platform has matured and new features have been added. For example, the creators announced at the end of last year that it would be possible to develop Android apps using Go code only, which could attract further interest and open new possibilities – particularly as most Android software has been written in Java so far.

After five years of evolution, Google’s Go language — with version 1.5, which came out August 2015 – has gone from being a curiosity to a promising source for fast-moving new projects.

5. Opa

Web Development – is not easy, even the simplest web application consists of endless lines written on several languages: HTML and JavaScript for the client, Java or PHP for the server part, SQL for database, etc. Who would have thought that it will be possible to write simultaneously the fronted and backend code, in the same language within the same module. Precisely for this purpose was created Opa language.

In Opa application user interface, client logic and the database server IO is written on one language – Opa. This is achieved with the combination of frameworks from the client and server. Opa compiler decides where this program should be run (on client, server, or on both of them), and then executes its code. For clients programs, it translates Opa to the appropriate JavaScript code, including AJAX calls.

The environment Opa combines its own Web server and database management system that cannot be replaced by independent alternatives. In any case, it might not be so important, taking into account the opportunity to develop modern web applications, managed by data with just a few dozen lines of code. In fact, this language enables to write full-stack applications: server (backend) programming (running on Node.js), client (frontend) programming (compiled to JavaScript) and database programming (using MongoDB).

Opa is free of charge for using and currently is available for 64-bit Linux and Mac OS X platforms, others ports have been developed yet.

6. Fantom

If you want to make a Java or .Net application, Fantom is at your disposal. In the beginning Fantom was created for a cross-platform mobility, so while using Fantom you can make a choice, and afterwards even switch the platforms. It provides a concise syntax along with elegant, cross portable libraries. Moreover the project Fantom consists not only of a compiler, which can run bytecode for JVM or .Net CLI but also it produces code from the API set, which separates API Java and .Net and form an additional level of mobility. It’s considered to be the one of Fan’s primary benefits, because it gives a chance to develop a suite of system APIs that are elegant and easy to use compared to the Java and .NET counter parts.

Further increase of Fantom mobility is planned. A compiler from Fantom into JavaScript is already available, and the next goal is the LLVM project compiler, the Parrot VM and Objective-C for IOS.

However, mobility is not the whole Fantom point. Being similar to C by its nature, it should also improve languages, which inspired developers to create it. It strives to take an intermediate position in the most controversial issues of syntax such as strict or dynamic typing, or while choosing between interfaces and classes. It has a light additional syntax for declaring data structures and object serialization. Besides it supports embedded functional programming and overlapping.

Like many of the niche languages, Fantom suffers from limited support via external tools. Its only IDE support, for example, is a single plug-in to the NetBeans product. This is likely to change as the community for Fantom grows and its unique design and cross-platform characteristics become more widely known.

Fantom is distributed for free under the Academic Free License 3.0 and is available for Windows and Unix-like platform (including Mac OS X).

7.haXe

Portable code is no longer off the wall. For instance, C has many available compilers for diverse architectures and CPU, and Java-bytecode will work wherever there is a JVM. However haXe is more than just portable, this is a multiplatform language, which can be used for different architecture as well as with various operating environments, ranging from embedded binary systems to interpreters and virtual machines.

Nowadays developers can write programs in haXe, and then compile them into object code, JavaScript, PHP, Flash/ActionScript or NekoVM bytecode. Extra modules for C# and Java compilation are under elaboration.

In addition to the wireframe language there is a standard haXe library, which runs alike with every object, and there are specialized libraries to perform the peculiar functions of each platform. This includes data structures, maths and date, serialization, reflection, bytes, crypto, file system, database access, etc. The Haxe standard library also includes platform-specific API that gives you access to important parts of the platform capabilities, and can be easily extended.

The haXe syntax similar to C and has an ample feature set. Its main advantage is the ability to eliminate the problems inherent in each of the platform. For example, haXe has strict typing where JavaScript doesn’t; the settings and type inference are added to ActionScript; besides it completely expels the poorly designed, ill-conceived PHP syntax.

Despite the fact that haXe is still under development, it’s already being used commercially by its creator, the game studio Motion Twin. Haxe is also used by thousands of developers worldwide to build games, apps, tools, and frameworks. Several high profile companies are using Haxe, such asNickelodeon, TiVo, Zynga and Prezi. It’s available for Linux, Mac OS and Windows under a combination of free licenses.

8.Zimbu

The majority of programming languages borrow functions and syntax from earlier languages. Zimbu took some pieces from almost all of them. Zimbu does not enforce one specific style of programming. You can do it the way that works best for the task at hand. The brainchild of Bram Moolenaar, creator of the Vim text editor, Zimbu is going to become a fast, precise, portable and easy to read language, which can be used to design anything from GUI-applications to OS kernels.

With its hybrid character, Zimbu syntax is unique and specific, but at the same time is rich with features. It uses expressions and operators, similar to those used in C, but with its own keywords, data types and block structures. It supports memory management, threads and conveyors. To be short Zimbu is procedural, like C: define procedures and data structures separately. Object Oriented, like Java: define classes that hold both procedures and data, support inheritance and other mechanisms to encourage code re-use. Functional: support function references, closures and callbacks.

The only problem is portability. Although Zimbu is a compiled language, its compiler produces ANSI C code, and binary files can be created only on platforms with integrated C-compiler.

Unfortunately, Zimbu project is still under development. The compiler and a few sample programs can be built by themselves, but not all valid Zimbu-code will compile and run properly. Not all declared functions are implemented; moreover even some implemented are ill-adapted. The language specification also might be changed over time: keywords, types and syntax will be added as the need arises. Hence, documentation is patchy. Still if you want to give it a try, pilot tools are already available under the Apache license.

9.Chapel

Chapel, the first programming language by Cray, was created with provision for supercomputing and clustering.

Chapel is part of Cray Cascade Program, a large-scale HPC development, partially funded by the US Defense Advanced Research Project Agency (DARPA). Among the goals of this project are the segregation parallel algorithms from the hardware, the performance improvement on architectures and rising the parallel program’s portability. The creators typically characterize the Chapel language as having features related to the base language, task parallelism, data parallelism, and locality.

Chapel’s syntax consists of several languages’ syntaxes. In addition to the most frequently used (C, C++, Java), it borrows the concepts from such scientific programming languages as Fortan and Matlab. ZPL, High-Performance Fortan and previous Cray projects influenced Chapel’s functions of parallel-processing. Chapel is an imperative block-structured language, designed to be easy to learn for users of C, C++, Fortran, Java, Python, Matlab, and the like.

In contrast to many previous higher-level parallel languages, Chapel is designed around a multiresolution philosophy, permitting users to initially write very abstract code and then incrementally add more detail until they are as close to the machine as their needs require.

As it currently stands, Chapel is a useful prototype, yet one that requires additional work in order to be valuable to real users. At the moment it can be run on Cray supercomputers and various high-performance clusters, and it can be ported to most Unix systems (including MacOS X and Windows with Cygwin). The source code is available under a BSD-type free license.

10. X10

Once the parallel processing has been a specialized niche of software development, but due to the spread of multi-core processors and distributed computing, parallelism has gained popularity. Unfortunately, today’s programming languages don’t keep up with this trend. That is why IBM Research creates X10 – the language, which is developed specially for parallel architectures and aimed at accumulating developer productivity “ten times”. It is a class-based, strongly-typed, garbage-collected, object-oriented language.

X10 parallelism is possible thanks to PGAS programming model (a model of the divided global address space). Code and data are divided into blocks and distributed across different “spaces”, thus facilitating the program scaling from a single-threaded prototype (a single space) to a multi-threaded, running on one or more multicore processor (few spaces) in high-performance cluster.

It is well designed to get rid of some complexity related to distributed-computing programming. X10 code most coincides with Java code. In fact, the x10 runtime is available either as built-in executable files or as class files for the JMV. X10 compiler can output C++ or Java source code. In future it is planned to develop a direct compatibility with Java. It also strives to eliminate possibility of errors by design, and through static checking.

Meanwhile the language is establishing, though it is already quite developed. Implementations of X10 are available for a wide variety of hardware and software platforms ranging from laptops, to commodity clusters, to supercomputers.The compiler and runtime environment are available on different platforms, including Linux, Mac OS X and Windows. Additional utilities include: the interactive development environment(IDE), based on Eclipse, and a debugger. They are both distributed under the Eclipse Public License.

Unfortunately it’s represented not all new languages, still as for me main ones…

If you have tried to work with any of them, you are welcome to share your experience in comments. Would be interesting to read about your practices.

Thanks for your attention 😉