"Programmers in the Java environment have another tool in their box, following the launch of a new programming language called Gosu. Publicly released by Guidewire Software, Gosu is a general purpose programming language that runs on the Java Virtual Machine. According to the developers, Gosu is an object-oriented language that is 100% compatible with Java and has a promising set of attributes compared to other JVM languages. For example, Gosu boasts solid IDE tooling and static typing (meaning variables don't have to be defined before they're used), which remain rare in the world of JVMs."
To view parent comment, click here.
To read all comments associated with this story, please click here.
Member since:2006-11-19
You're right, I agree that there is still value in the Java platform.
However with the real thing, I mean the thing itself. You can actually use C# with JVM. For example:
* Grasshopper lets you use C# to directly write JVM code. It was expensive, but I think it became free: http://dev.mainsoft.com/Default.aspx?tabid=29
* Stab (another open source project) is already an implementation of a C# like language on the JVM: http://code.google.com/p/stab-language/
* As a side note, IKVM lets you do the reverse: Java JAR -> .Net DLL conversion, thus you can employ Java libraries in .Net project
And there could be others. That's why I'm questioning the novelty of this new language.
Member since:2010-11-13
Hi Guys,
I'm one of the gosu developers, the guy who gave the presentation to the SacJUG.
So, yeah, Gosu isn't revolutionary in many ways: it takes good ideas from C#, Ruby, etc. and then tries to be a very smooth lateral transition for java developers. It is statically typed mainly to support tooling (code competion, etc.) It has a few interesting features, such as a delegate keyword that allows you to implement interfaces with a field, which allows for easy compositional programming ("Favor composition over inheritance" the experts always tell me.)
It also has automatic downcasting after a type test:
var foo : Object = "foo"
if( foo typeis String ) {
print( foo.capitalize() ) // <-- automatically downcast to String
}
These are small things, but nice.
The core innovation of the language is the Open Type System, which allows frameworks to generate Domain Specific Type Systems. It's effectively a formalized and simple to understand metaprogramming system that gives library and framework developers a heck of a tool. Scott McKinney, the father of the language, will be putting a post up on this concept soon here:
http://guidewiredevelopment.wordpress.com/
If you are a JVM programmer or someone who likes to dabble in lots of languages, Gosu is worth watching.
Also, for the concerns that this language might be too oriented towards a particular client: don't worry. Gosu is a general programming language that used in all sorts of ways by Guidewire. The commercial support increases the chance that it won't go away. (Guidewire actually makes money, this isn't a vanity project.)
I'm happy to answer any questions or comments.
The third and final WWDC product I want to talk about is - of course - OS X 10.9 Mavericks. While iOS 7 was clearly the focus of this year's WWDC, its venerable desktop counterpart certainly wasn't left behind. Apple announced OS X 10.9 Mavericks, the first OS X release not to carry the name of a big cat.
We already talked about iOS 7 yesterday (after a night of sleep, it's only looking worse and worse - look at this, for Fiona's sake!), so now it's time to talk about the downright stunning and belly flutters-inducing new Mac Pro. As former owner and huge, huge, huge fan of the PowerMac G4 Cube - I haven't been this excited about an Apple product since, well, I would say the iMac G4. This is the Apple I used to love.
Apple held its big keynote event thing at WWDC earlier this evening, but since I was away with friends I've had to read up on it later in the evening. The company announced iOS 7, OS X 10.9 Mavericks, and they gave a preview of the new Mac Pro. Especially the Mac Pro impressed me, and while iOS 7's new Holo/Metro-inspired theme looks messy and garish to me, I do commend Apple for finally breaking the mold. This news item will focus on iOS 7 - I'll dive into the Mac Pro and OS X 10.9 tomorrow (it's late here now).
And yes, the PRISM scandal is far, far from over. More and more information keeps leaking out, and the more gets out, the worse it gets. The companies involved have sent out official statements - often by mouth of their CEOs - and what's interesting is that not only are these official statements eerily similar to each other, using the same terms clearly designed by lawyers, they also directly contradict new reports from The New York Times. So, who is lying?This story is getting bigger and bigger. Even though most Americans probably already knew, it is now official: the United States government, through its National Security Agency, is collecting the communications and data of all American citizens, and of non-Americans using American services, through a wide collaboration with the large companies in technology, like Apple, Google, Microsoft, Facebook, and so on. Interestingly enough, the NSA itself, as well as the US government, have repeatedly and firmly denied this massive spying on Americans and non-Americans took place at all.Ah, patents - the never-ending scourge of the technology industry. Whether wielded by companies who don't actually make any products, or large corporations who abuse them because they can't compete in the market place or because they're simply jerks, they do the industry a huge disservice and are simply plain dangerous. According to The Wall Street Journal (circumvention link), president Obama is about to take several executive actions to address patent trolls - which may seem like a good idea, but I am very worried that all this will do is strengthen the positions of notorious patent system abusers such as Apple and Microsoft.
With version 13.05, the developers of the Genode OS Framework take measures to ensure that Genode continues to scale well with a growing number of users and the steadily broadening platform coverage. Further highlights are the improved SoC support for Exynos 5, OMAP4, Raspberry Pi, i.MX, and new components for realizing headless systems.At the D11 conference, Apple CEO Tim Cook once again took the stage to be interviewed by Walt Mossberg and Kara Swisher. While most of the interview can be replicated by picking and reading 10 random Apple fanblog stories - there were still a number of very interesting things that warrant some closer scrutiny.
So, the Xbox One disaster continues. Microsoft's policy for dealing with the used games market has reportedly leaked - and it's a clear and direct attack to destroy the used games market. Prices for used games will be set at the retail value of a new game, and retailers have to hook into Microsoft's computer systems and comply with Microsoft's terms and conditions.At an event earlier today, Microsoft unveiled the next Xbox - the third model, but confusingly named Xbox One. The big focus was TV, integrated Kinect, and all the other stuff we all expected to be forced down our throats. I think it took them 25 minutes to actually come to what should be the core of the story: gaming. Nothing groundbreaking in the gaming department, except for how Microsoft intends to handle the used games market and borrowing games from friends: pay up, buddy!
Member since:
2005-07-12
Why bother? Simple. So you can use those goodies on other platforms besides Windows, or .Net. I'm not knocking those, but lots of people prefer choice of platforms as well as vendor.
And give credit where credit is due. Ander Hejlsberg and his team at MS have done a fantastic job of designing and evolving C#.
And unfortunately, Java (the language) has fallen behind.
However, the JVM itself is a fantastic, wonderful feat of software engineering, and a great platform to run on, and loaded with huge, fantastic, libraries.
Java (the Language) being behind the times, + the JVM (the runtime/platform) being a wonderful platform and great engineering = need for other JVM languages. Enter Scala, Groovy, JRuby, Jython, Clojure, and now Gosu. And some of these are already well into large production environments - Groovy and Grails, Scala + Lift, JRuby, etc.
This is where the excitement of Java lies - JVM + newer JVM languages.
Edited 2010-11-12 16:41 UTC