(2007-02-14) Yegge Next Big Language

Steve Yegge thinks he knows what the Next Big Programming Language will be. But he won't name it, just gives some requirements. In the comments, lots of people think it's JavaScript.

Joe Gregorio challenges that Winner Take All Framing.

Sean McGrath thinks the next gen will be driven by Domain Specific Language creation.

Jun'2007 update: he did a FooCamp talk on RhinoOnRails, a clone of Ruby On Rails his Google team did on top of the Rhino JavaScript engine that runs in the JVM. Too bad he concluded that Jython isn't going anywhere. And too bad he doesn't expect it to go Open Source any time soon. And with that, I'm signing off to spend a little time working on my super-secret home project that should be ready for release later this year. This one's a bona-fide magic trick, which of course means I can't give it away. Let's just call it "NBE" for now, shall we? Yes, I think NBE sums it up nicely. Oh that's just mean...

• does NBE stand for Next Big Editor (Text Editor), an EMacs clone written in Rhino/DHTML?

• Dec'2007 update: The short synopsis is that I'm building a complete JavaScript environment in EMacs-LisP, with two goals: (1) create a world-class JavaScript IDE for Emacs, and (2) permit writing Emacs extensions in JavaScript, since (2a) people aren't exactly flocking to elisp, and (2b) JavaScript turns out to be a better language, now that I know them both in excruciating detail. Emacs is a great environment that needs a better extension language, and JavaScript seems well suited to navigate the popularity-vs.-elegance tightrope I'm faced with... The whole thing looks to be at least a year out, at least on my current budget of 3 hours a week, so don't hold your breath. I'm giving priority to the IDE functionality, since I kinda need it for other projects, so that could potentially happen by summer.

Dec'2007 2nd update: He wants to use this even for Fat Client apps. He's a big believer in VM-based environments, is betting on the JVM, and thinks the Rhino will be best JVM language. (Though he thinks J Ruby is making lots of progress, and Jython would be a contender if it gets re-activated.)

Mar30'2008 update: he has a JavaScript mode for EMacs. This is part of a larger project, in progress, to permit writing Emacs extensions in JavaScript instead of Emacs-Lisp. Lest ye judge: hey, some people swing that way. The larger project is well underway, but probably won't be out until late summer or early fall.

Jan'2009: just discovered Trim Junction from Steve Yen, which replicates Ruby On Rails in a client-side JavaScript Single Page Application. He also [built](http://code.google.com/p/trimpath/wiki/Next Action) Next Action, a Getting Things Done app based on the same work, with Google Gears (and also a Spreadsheet!). The main description page looks un-updated since late 2007, but updates have been posted as recently as May'2008.

Mar'2013: mooz fork of Yegge's js2-mode.