In search of a robust, productive programming language.
- robust: static typing, stable apis, experienced developers
- stable: mature, future-proof, backwards compatible, standardised, widely deployed, open-source, funded
- efficient: close to native speed, light on memory, multithreaded
- interactive: repl support, automatic compilation, live coding
- scripting: single file apps, vim-friendly, fast startup
- ecosystem: package manager, large package library, active community
- portable: console, desktop, web, mobile, embedded, any os
- distribution: easy to share and install packages and binaries
- syntax: readable syntax, point-free syntax, infix syntax
- api: clean api, clean semantics, less ooo
| language | stable | robust | effici | intera | script | eco | port | dist | syntax | api |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| java | * | * | * | ~ | x | * | + | - | ~ | - |
| lisp | * | ~ | * | * | + | ~ | ~ | x | - | + |
| scheme | * | ~ | * | * | + | - | ~ | ~ | - | ~ |
| c | * | ~ | * | x | - | + | ~ | - | ~ | - |
| c++ | * | ~ | * | x | x | ~ | ~ | - | ~ | ~ |
| sh | * | - | ~ | - | * | - | + | - | - | - |
| javascript | + | - | - | + | + | + | * | + | - | - |
| bash | + | x | ~ | ~ | * | - | ~ | x | - | - |
| kotlin | ~ | + | * | - | ~ | + | + | - | + | ~ |
| rust | ~ | + | * | - | * | |||||
| go | ~ | + | * | - | ||||||
| typescript | ~ | ~ | - | |||||||
| python | ~ | - | - | + | + | + | ~ | + | ~ | + |
| clojure | - | ~ | ~ | + | - | + | ~ | ~ | ~ | |
| ruby | - | ~ | - | * | + | ~ | ~ | + | ~ | |
| racket | - | ~ | + | * | + | ~ | ~ | ~ | - | * |
| julia | - | - | + | * | + | ~ | ~ | * | + | ~ |
| dart | ||||||||||
| dylan | ||||||||||
| lua |
script start-up times
12.358 $ time kotlin -e 0
5.561 $ time planck -e "(+ 1 1)"
5.387 $ time kotlin zero.main.kts // kotlin compiles and caches .main.kts files
4.807 $ time jshell zero.jsh
4.624 $ time racket -I typed/racket -e 0
3.487 $ time groovy -e 0
3.256 $ time clj -e "(+ 1 1)"
1.992 $ time kawa -e "(+ 1 1)"
1.799 $ time java Zero.java // java 11
1.573 $ time nodejs -e 0
1.425 $ time ( javac Zero.java; java Zero; ) // jdk 1.8
1.395 $ time racket -e 0
1.380 $ time kscript zero.kts
0.577 $ time lumo -e 0
0.546 $ time java -jar zero-scala-3.1.2.jar
0.490 $ time kotlin ZeroKt // byte-compiled
0.425 $ time racket -I racket/base -e 0
0.419 $ time drip -cp /usr/share/java/clojure.jar clojure.main -e "(+ 1 1)"
0.412 $ time julia-1.7 -e0
0.332 $ time racket zero.rkt // #lang racket/base; raco make plus.rkt
0.299 $ time java -cp bsh-2.0b4.jar bsh.Interpreter zero.bsh // jdk-17
0.295 $ time cargo script zero.rs
0.228 $ time java_launcher Zero // compiled on demand jdk-1.8
0.177 $ time java Zero // byte-compiled jdk-1.8
0.168 $ time java_launcher Zero // compiled on demand jdk-17
0.150 $ time java -cp kotlin-stdlin.jar:zero.kt.jar ZeroKt // java 17.0.2, kotlin 1.7.0
0.044 $ time scm -e0
0.033 $ time python -c0
0.020 $ time sbcl --noinform --eval 0 --quit
0.016 $ time csi -e 0
0.013 $ time ./graal-zero // native-image
0.010 $ time awk "BEGIN { 0 }"
0.008 $ time ksh -c ''
0.008 $ time bash -c ''
0.007 $ time ./rust-zero // compiled
0.007 $ time ./zero.kexe // kotlin 1.7.0 native
0.006 $ time bc <<< '0'
0.006 $ time sh -c '' // dash
memory footprint
203844 kB $ /usr/bin/time --format "%M kB" kotlin-1.6.0 -e 0
152796 kB $ /usr/bin/time --format "%M kB" julia-1.7 -e0
147868 kB $ /usr/bin/time --format "%M kB" racket-7.2 -I typed/racket -e 0
136664 kB $ /usr/bin/time --format "%M kB" kotlin-1.6.0 zero.main.kts
71684 kB $ /usr/bin/time --format "%M kB" scala-3.1.2 zero.jar
67280 kB $ /usr/bin/time --format "%M kB" racket-7.2 -e 0
45108 kB $ /usr/bin/time --format "%M kB" kotlin-1.7.0 zero.kt.jar
33832 kB $ /usr/bin/time --format "%M kB" java -jar zero.kt.jar
34752 kB $ /usr/bin/time --format "%M kB" nodejs-10.21.0 -e 0
33432 kB $ /usr/bin/time --format "%M kB" java Zero // java 17.0.2
28772 kB $ /usr/bin/time --format "%M kB" racket-7.2 -I racket/base -e 0
19148 kB $ /usr/bin/time --format "%M kB" sbcl-1.4.16 --noinform --eval 0 --quit
9248 kB $ /usr/bin/time --format "%M kB" python-3.7.3 -c0
7628 kB $ /usr/bin/time --format "%M kB" csi-4.13 -e 0
6908 kB $ /usr/bin/time --format "%M kB" ./graal-zero // native-image
6576 kB $ /usr/bin/time --format "%M kB" python-2.7.16 -c0
3760 kB $ /usr/bin/time --format "%M kB" awk "BEGIN { 0 }"
3508 kB $ /usr/bin/time --format "%M kB" ksh -c ''
3008 kB $ /usr/bin/time --format "%M kB" bash -c ''
2172 kB $ /usr/bin/time --format "%M kB" ./zero.kexe // kotlin-1.7.0 native
1920 kB $ /usr/bin/time --format "%M kB" bc <<< '0'
1420 kB $ /usr/bin/time --format "%M kB" dash -c ''