This post originated from an RSS feed registered with Java Buzz by Brian McCallister. Original Post: If We Had to Drop Java Feed Title: Waste of Time Feed URL: http://kasparov.skife.org/blog/index.rss Feed Description: A simple waste of time and weblog experiment Latest Java Buzz Posts Latest Java Buzz Posts by Brian McCallister Latest Posts From Waste of Time

So, thought experiment. If we, as an industry, had to drop Java, the language and the virtual machine, for some reason, what could really move into its niche?

Some points to consider:

• We'd want to be able to compile Java the Language to it in order to not have to rewrite everything.
• If we are compiling Java the language to it, it should support Java semantics, or at least something close enough that you can get around it in an automatic manner.
• We are addicted to GC now. Smalltalkers and Lispers, you were right.
• We are primarily talking about a medium to big server footprint.
• It needs to allow for efficient use of lots of processors.
• It needs to support large teams of mediocre programmers.
• It would be nice if it supported small teams of kickass programmers.
• It should be legally "safe" -- no one should be able to yank the carpet out from under it via IP evildoing. The FSF nailed this one.
• The existing culture would need to be able to cope with corporate adoption, or the technology would have to be easy enough to fork and use that the existing culture could be ignored.

Putting aside the "damn I want to use coolness X," what out there provides something that could do it?