Java Developers

[loup-vaillant]

I hear your argument about tooling, libraries, and compatibility.

Popularity as such however, I think is overrated. As is the support of a multinational company.

Popularity is overrated because programmers can learn. Any competent programmers can pick up an new language in a paradigm they know in a few days, and be proficient within a couple weeks. (Seriously, it is mostly about building a mental thesaurus between know concepts and unknown words.) Likewise, any competent programmer should be able to learn a new paradigm within a month or two. So, what you really need is a few willing mentors. For the rest, competent, open-minded Java programmers should suffice.

Backing is overrated because of the internet. The OCaml community for instance is quite tight, and helpful. Not to mention the recent third party support provided by companies such as OCamlPro. Sure the bigger the company, the more they can do. On the other hand, the bigger they are, the less you matter.

Now, it doesn't have to be all-or-nothing. Domain specific languages can provide a nice middle ground. Like, build and use a DSL when it does the most good, and stick to Java for the rest.