
Examples of large-scale functional language projects - helwr
http://lambda-the-ultimate.org/node/2491
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ShardPhoenix
The fact that people keep naming the same few well known examples (eg Jane
Street Capital) plus a few extremely obscure projects whenever this question
comes up essentially demonstrates that functional programming hasn't really
caught on yet. By contrast, if someone asked you "who uses Java/C++/C#/etc.?",
there are so many well-known answers you wouldn't even know where to start.

Don't get me wrong, I like what I've seen from functional programming so far
(currently learning Clojure), but at the moment it's a niche thing at best.

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10ren
What's a _new_ project in Java? Last time this came up, the only examples
given were five years old (note: "new" meaning newly launched, not just those
that are active). Not bashing Java; this is a genuine question.

~~~
ShardPhoenix
<http://www.playframework.org/> is a good one, but the discussion isn't just
about public projects, but overall usage. Java is still hugely used in the
enterprise space for projects old and new (and for better for for worse...).

~~~
10ren
oh I see; I should have side "aside/tangent:". I was trying to validate one of
the assumptions for my startup ("Java will remain in wide-spread use"), not
argue within the discussion. I believe it will, but with so much negativity
about java, I'd like to confirm it with facts.

Some facts are that many java jobs are advertised; but this doesn't really
confirm where java is going... are they for new projects or maintaining old
ones? Also, technologies typically peak just before being replaced, so it
doesn't tell us either way. "New projects" would be factual, except that non-
public ones are hard to measure, and there is a genuine fall-off in new public
java projects.

For example, github lists a very small proportion of Java projects - 5% (of
course, github historically favours ruby) <http://github.com/languages>; but
Java is top on
[http://sourceforge.net/search/?words=java&type_of_search...](http://sourceforge.net/search/?words=java&type_of_search=soft&words=&search=Search)

[ _EDIT_ some language popularity trackers:
[http://www.tiobe.com/index.php/content/paperinfo/tpci/index....](http://www.tiobe.com/index.php/content/paperinfo/tpci/index.html)
<http://lang-index.sourceforge.net/>
<http://www.complang.tuwien.ac.at/anton/comp.lang-statistics/>]

Trying to extrapolate: Some weak points of java (verbosity and static typing)
actually can be benefits to large companies, who want things to be clear and
stable. Once a language gets established, it's difficult to dislodge because
of infrastructure (tools; libraries; standards; trained workforce etc).

One way dominant technologies can get replaced is to be disrupted, especially
by a lower level. One disruption that is currently happening is "cloud
computing", and there are initiatives within it, like Service Component
Architecture, to try to minimize language dependence. Java suits this space
quite well, so it's unlikely to be disrupted by it. Sun is gone, but its light
lives on: the network is the computer.

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martincmartin
I always find it funny when people consider Lisp a functional language. Lisp
is really multiparadigm: it's as easy to write imperative code as it is to
write functional code.

I worked at ITA in their Lisp code for two years. It's mostly imperative, and
only uses a functional style where you would in other languages, e.g. using
recursion to walk a tree.

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shawndumas
Firstly, I barely made it out of High-school so what do I know, but... the
criteria seems deleterious to the point of the inquiry.

Is not the oft proffered benefits of a functional language smaller teams and
fewer lines of code?

Should not we ask what monumental tasks, that would normally require a large
team and many lines of code, are being done in a functional language?

Mind you, I am not saying the answer would be different but it seems less like
a Complex Question[1]

.

[1]: <http://philosophy.lander.edu/logic/complex.html>

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ctkrohn
This post is from 2007 but still seems timely... note that ITA (acquired by
Google today) is a Lisp user.

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ww520
Note that just because a project using Lisp doesn't mean it's a functional
project. Plenty of Lisp programs are written in imperative styles. I've done
couple, guilty as charged.

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h0h0h0
I always think of the Nichimen Graphics group when I hear about interesting
systems coded in an FP (lisp)

[http://www.franz.com/success/customer_apps/animation_graphic...](http://www.franz.com/success/customer_apps/animation_graphics/nichimen.lhtml)

~~~
lispm
that's more or less object-oriented

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zaph0d
The Indian startup Cleartrip moved to a better & scalable programming language
(Java) sometime back. Meanwhile I have moved on to do my Finance startup built
in Clojure.

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dons
<http://cufp.org>

