alt Hacker News> you have no clue of my stance on AI and are extrapolating a bit too much
apologies, but maybe next time try to elaborate more on sweeping statements like "syntax doesn't matter", because in current context my assumption for why you would say that is not all that outrageous.
> Syntax does not matter simply because it's an extremely leaky abstraction of the runtime below, is my point.
that would be the reason why syntax does matter, wouldn't it? nobody wants leaky abstractions!
ironically, Clojure is a great example of a hosted language that does not leak much in terms of underlying runtime, as evidenced by the fact that it has been implemented on top of a variety of runtimes with decent control over cross-runtime code reuse.
> acknowledged that the JVM is a great and mature runtime but it's lagging behind on STM / actor capabilities
you're stating this as if it's a fact, but what is your evidence? afaik jvm has a very extensive actor model library (Akka) and clojure does include a solid STM implementation (https://clojure.org/reference/refs).
the reality is that both of these approaches to concurrency are simply not popular enough, so your grievances with JVM for (allegedly!) lacking some important features relevant to them are not in sync with the demand.
> Tearing down a straw man is not impressive and it comes across as you trying to gain visibility by deliberately misrepresenting your discussion opponent's arguments.
don't debate-bro me bro, there are no straw men and no misrepresentations of your messages. if there are invalid assumptions - it's because instead of turning this into a dozen-messages-deep interrogation of what you really meant, i'm taking shortcuts and assuming what i believe is most plausible interpretation.
> that would be the reason why syntax does matter, wouldn't it? nobody wants leaky abstractions!
Well I thought we were describing our current reality, not our _desired_ one? Yes nobody wants leaky abstractions and yes they are everywhere.
Syntax matters insofar as to discourage bad habits, is what I'd refine from my previous statements. Most programmers go for the default so defaults and syntax that steers you the right way to think and write matter a lot.
That being said, people write FP Rust (myself included) and have plethora of JS libraries where immutability and FP patterns are the default. Which is a sad state of affairs but much better than nothing -- as it's introducing programmers to immutability and FP and they otherwise would never know.
> as evidenced by the fact that it has been implemented on top of a variety of runtimes with decent control over cross-runtime code reuse.
That was my top 1 reason to try it btw; I was intrigued by the fact that people are interested in making it work universally in at least two very different runtimes. To me that signals good language design and good architecture. Which I already knew; Clojure and Racket are amazing on their own.
> you're stating this as if it's a fact, but what is your evidence? afaik jvm has a very extensive actor model library (Akka) and clojure does include a solid STM implementation (https://clojure.org/reference/refs).
As already said multiple times in the thread -- my info is stale (as claimed by multiple posters).
That being said, has Akka started making full use of JVM's new green threads? Has Java itself started introducing immutability and STM / share-nothing as first-class citizens? If not, then by the "programmers reach for the defaults first" rule above I'd think Java is not yet ready. OK Clojure has these amazing libraries, kudos. Has anybody rolled up their sleeves and said "Alright, BEAM VM's reign is over, I am making the same or better runtime as them in Java / Clojure!"? If not, I'll not yet revisit.
I just don't want to deal with the endless pit of determinism bugs that global mutability nets us. The gift that keeps giving.
If Akka / Golang's runtime / Rust's various actor-emulating libraries catch up to the OTP, I'll very likely drop Erlang/Elixir because it's a struggle to have a good stable employment (or even contracting lately) with them.
Even if the BEAM VM is slower and has a few annoying sharp edges, its strengths nullify its weaknesses due to the nature of my work (HA web / API servers and also API gateways and orchestrators).