I don't think that's it. I love learning new stuff but if the new stuff is somewhat like but still different than the old stuff I have a much harder time giving it its spot.

For instance, in python I'm not usually tempted to put ';' at the end of a statement, except on lines with function calls. For some weird reason that f(x); goes completely automatic.

And every time I see my fingers do that I have to remove it again, and plenty of times I simply miss it.

It's like a violin that you've gotten used to over the years, the next violin may be a very good instrument but it will never be the one that you have this finely tuned connection with that you built up over the years. That takes years!

So true ! Loved u'r violin example. Let me state my experience. I used to code in BASIC when I was in school, when shifting to C++ in college it was a pain in the ass. Later I learnt python by choice, although initially indentation stuff freaked me out. I had gotten used to C syntax. Recently while learning scheme I felt handicapped. Once we'r used to certain languages, familiarity makes the task seems easy. I found that Java code easier than scala because may be I'm unaware of scala syntax. The fact that almost everyone in the college codes in C++ because they are using it and they are so used to it that they feel problems while switching languages !!

PS. I'm much happier now that python had replaced C++ as my primary language :)

You do realize that f(x); is a valid statement in python?

Sure, but the ';' can be lost without penalty.

It's not about 'not learning anything new'. There are plenty of new concepts in languages that don't use archaic or oddball conventions just for the sake of being different, especially if there isn't a technology driving the adoption (like there is with Objective C).

Especially in things like Scala; ':=' for assignment is from Pascal, and Ocaml, to me, feels like a really verbose Lisp.

Programmers are much less likely to pick up a new tool if its syntax is so radically different from what they normally work with that there's a steep learning curve just to become accustomed to it.

Sure, both languages have some interesting features, but there really isn't anything driving the change beyond that. Scala lacks a decent web application framework (Lift is rubbish, I'm sorry), and they seem to be targeting that space. OCaml is interesting, but I don't see any major new technology driving its adoption.

OCaml's syntax is denser than C. There is less to type when you write f 1 2 3 vs f (1, 2, 3), and it gets even better once you look at the larger features like function definitions.

Bit surprised you think Lisp is more dense. I just wrote a Lisp compiler in Lisp, and found it more verbose than ML (although only by a little bit). I find the lack of syntax in Lisp very annoying, particularly since it's not necessary -- you can write macros over an AST, which is how camlp4 works.

> Lift is rubbish

Could you elaborate?