Ok folks, this is the beginning. I'm going to try, in the midst of JavaOne Day Zero chaos, to run the first big *open* JVM dynamic languages get-together.
It will be part of RedMonk's Unconference running parallel to CommunityOne on Monday, May 7th. It is a *FREE* event. Yes, I said *FREE*.
We're going to have a number of Sun engineers there, including Tom Enebo and myself, John Rose from the JVM, Alex Buckley, and more. There will be representatives from JRuby (besides Tom and I), Jython, SISC, Rhino, Groovy, and others. It's going to be our big opportunity to make sure the JVM continues on a path of solid support for dynamic (and other) languages. And lest ye forget, these discussions will directly influence Java 7...so it's a unique opportunity we must not waste.
Why now? Because interest in dynamic languages for general-purpose application development--especially on top of mainstream virtual machines like the JVM--has simply exploded in the past year. At JavaOne, there's an entire track devoted to Tools and Languages, where the party line in the past has always been "Java Java Java". There are more language-related talks than anyone could attend, where before they were few and far between. And perhaps most importantly, Microsoft today showed they're doing the exact same thing we want to do, announcing their CLR-based Dynamic Language Runtime.
But we have a different palette with which to paint. The JVM is truly open source. All the language implementations are truly open source. We have vast communities in the Java world and strong, energetic communities around each dynamic language project. And all those communities have deep roots in the open source world. Our world is tailor-made for collaboration, and now is the time.
So, on Monday, May 7th (good lord, less than a week away!) I invite language implementers and alternative JVM language enthusiasts to join us. The time has not been decided yet, but I've got two other sessions at 4:00 and 5:00, so it will be before that. Perhaps during the early afternoon period? There's also the possibility of making arrangements for a second discussion that week, maybe co-opting a BOF or a BOF room.
For those of you unable to make it, please try to find a proxy that can represent your interests, or make those interests known to me over email. And know also that I'll be in San Francisco from the 3rd until the 15th, and in Portland, Oregon for RailsConf from then until the 21st. I'd love to get together and discuss language implementation and the future of the JVM. And I love a good beer.
Friends, dynamic languages have truly arrived on the JVM. Let's get together to ensure they feel welcome.
Watch this space for more details.
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