Dart, a new langage

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Zak Zillion
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Dart, a new langage

Post by Zak Zillion »

I just thought I would post this to let everyone know that google has made a new web programming language. Dart
"Any intelligent fool can make things bigger, more complex, and more violent. It takes a touch of genius -- and a lot of courage -- to move in the opposite direction." - Albert Einstein

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Jackolantern
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Re: Dart, a new langage

Post by Jackolantern »

Hmmm, interesting! In a year or two when it has evolved much further, has more adoption, more support, and more tools it could be a very interesting option, particularly if it gets adopted to run natively in browsers. Finally we will have a real OO language in the browser!
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hallsofvallhalla
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Re: Dart, a new langage

Post by hallsofvallhalla »

You can use the same Dart code in most modern web browsers (Chrome, Safari 5+, Firefox 4+) and on servers. Look for more browser support shortly
No IE...strange...
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Chris
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Re: Dart, a new langage

Post by Chris »

hallsofvallhalla wrote:
You can use the same Dart code in most modern web browsers (Chrome, Safari 5+, Firefox 4+) and on servers. Look for more browser support shortly
No IE...strange...
Yeah.. I can't figure it out either.
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Jackolantern
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Re: Dart, a new langage

Post by Jackolantern »

Well, it is still young. Obviously IE needs to be high on the to-do list or it is useless for production code. I am still wondering if it really has a well-defined platform premise yet, also.
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Callan S.
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Re: Dart, a new langage

Post by Callan S. »

I picture two giants, microsoft and google, circling each other, looking for an opening. Or maybe google circling microsoft.

Google is incredibly aggressive subversive. Absence of IE support is as much a move as pushing forward a piece on a chessboard.
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Jackolantern
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Re: Dart, a new langage

Post by Jackolantern »

True, but it would be a bad move if that is so. End-users are the ones using IE, and they couldn't care less what language your web app is written in. All they will know is that you don't support their browser for some reason. And that is going to scare away developers and leave the language high and dry.

At the end of the day, most programming languages fail to ever become successful. Even those backed by large companies suffer from the same fates. Most languages live and die based on the built-in and community resources they have available, and the platform that they create. Java became popular for the latter, and C# for the former. My two cents are that Dart is yet to show us either one. I believe its fate will rely on delivery of its promise to run natively in all major browsers (without a plugin, although I am not sure if they said that). There are significant obstacles to make that a reality, not the least of which being Microsoft and IE. If it requires a plugin, there is not much point in that, as Flash and Silverlight already provide modern, sophisticated platforms with many more features built-in than what it appears Dart will offer.

And the real bottom line is that the language will be easy fodder for detractors who will quickly begin referring to it as "Fart". Who wants to be an expert in Fart lol? :?
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Callan S.
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Re: Dart, a new langage

Post by Callan S. »

Well, alternately, the end users think microsoft wont support this thing they want to use for some reason, and step further away from IE and microsoft.

Basically microsoft clings on by trying to not have it's market splintered. Does microsoft really provide anything, apart from 'everyones with us'? They're almost zero content. And any splintering, however small, is like the trickle of water at the bottom of the grand canyon.
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Jackolantern
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Re: Dart, a new langage

Post by Jackolantern »

Callan S. wrote:Well, alternately, the end users think microsoft wont support this thing they want to use for some reason, and step further away from IE and microsoft.
But end-users aren't even going to know Dart exists. Any attempts to educate them will fail, because the only question from non-technical end-users is "What shinies will it give me?" and Dart can't offer anything appealing for the end-user. Remember, most end-users don't even know what Javascript is, and most only have a foggy idea of what HTML is! Highly technical people easily forget just how un-technical the vast majority of people are. No non-programmers are going to have the idea that they want to use Dart. They will look at it purely from the angle that the site owner has failed to create content they can consume. They couldn't care less what the underlying technology is. If they did understand these things, they are probably not in the nearly 50% of internet users who are on some form of IE.

And yes, basically all Microsoft has to offer in this case is its market share. But that is huge in the world of the web and can't be written-off.
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Callan S.
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Re: Dart, a new langage

Post by Callan S. »

Wouldn't programmers use some detection method and a notification that you can't do X because it isn't supported? You already see 'best viewed in...' on websites.
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