Re:Some Insights from a Julia Developer
by pygy_ on Saturday October 14, 2017 @12:29PM
(#15472886)
Quoting the conclusion:
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Julia, like Dylan and Lisp before it, is a Goldilocks language. Done by a bunch of Lisp hackers who seriously know what they're doing.
It is trying to span the entire spectrum of its target users' needs, from numerical inner loops to glue-language scripting to dynamic code generation and reflection. And it's doing a very credible job at it. Its designers have produced a language that seems to be a strict improvement on Dylan, which was itself excellent. Julia's multimethods are type-parametric. It ships with really good multi-language FFIs, green coroutines and integrated package management. Its codegen is LLVM-MCJIT, which is as good as it gets these days.
To my eyes, Julia is one of the brightest spots in the recent language-design landscape; it's working in a space that really needs good languages right now; and it's reviving a language-lineage that could really do with a renaissance. I'm excited for its future.
————
Julia, like Dylan and Lisp before it, is a Goldilocks language. Done by a bunch of Lisp hackers who seriously know what they're doing.
It is trying to span the entire spectrum of its target users' needs, from numerical inner loops to glue-language scripting to dynamic code generation and reflection. And it's doing a very credible job at it. Its designers have produced a language that seems to be a strict improvement on Dylan, which was itself excellent. Julia's multimethods are type-parametric. It ships with really good multi-language FFIs, green coroutines and integrated package management. Its codegen is LLVM-MCJIT, which is as good as it gets these days.
To my eyes, Julia is one of the brightest spots in the recent language-design landscape; it's working in a space that really needs good languages right now; and it's reviving a language-lineage that could really do with a renaissance. I'm excited for its future.