Several languages are designed to run on the Java Virtual Machine (JVM), which allows them to benefit from platform independence, automatic memory management, and access to a rich ecosystem of Java libraries. Here’s a timeline of some notable JVM-based languages and a brief explanation of why they were created:
1. Java (1995):
- Creator: James Gosling, Mike Sheridan, and Patrick Naughton at Sun Microsystems.
- Purpose: Java was designed to be a general-purpose, object-oriented programming language with the primary goals of platform independence (Write Once, Run Anywhere - WORA) and simplicity.
2. Jython (1997):
- Creator: Jython project community.
- Purpose: Jython is an implementation of Python that runs on the JVM. It was created to combine the expressiveness of Python with the Java ecosystem, allowing Python developers to leverage Java libraries and frameworks.
3. Scala (2003):
- Creator: Martin Odersky and his team at École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL).
- Purpose: Scala (which stands for “scalable language”) was designed to be a modern and expressive programming language that seamlessly integrates object-oriented and functional programming. It was created to improve upon Java’s expressiveness and to provide support for concurrent and parallel programming.
4. Clojure (2007):
- Creator: Rich Hickey.
- Purpose: Clojure is a functional programming language that runs on the JVM. It was created to provide a concise, expressive, and immutable programming language with strong support for concurrent programming. It emphasizes simplicity and interoperability with existing Java code.
5. Groovy (2003):
- Creator: James Strachan and Bob McWhirter.
- Purpose: Groovy is a dynamic language with features inspired by Python, Ruby, and Smalltalk. It was created to improve developer productivity by offering a concise and expressive syntax while maintaining seamless integration with existing Java code. It is often used for scripting, testing, and building domain-specific languages.
6. JRuby (2001):
- Creator: Charles Nutter, Thomas Enebo, and Nick Sieger.
- Purpose: JRuby is an implementation of the Ruby programming language on the JVM. It was created to bring Ruby’s expressive syntax and dynamic features to the Java platform, allowing Ruby developers to take advantage of Java libraries and tools.
7. Kotlin (2011):
- Creator: JetBrains.
- Purpose: Kotlin was developed as a modern, statically-typed programming language that seamlessly interoperates with Java. It aimed to address some of Java’s limitations while providing enhanced features like null safety, concise syntax, and improved tooling support. Kotlin is officially supported for Android development.