Earlier today I was reading an article about Parrot. Parrot is, as stated on the project’s Web site, “a virtual machine designed to efficiently compile and execute bytecode for dynamic languages. Parrot currently hosts a variety of language implementations in various stages of completion, including Tcl, Javascript, Ruby, Lua, Scheme, PHP, Python, Perl 6, APL, and a .NET bytecode translator.”
I was reading this article from David Herron today. It looks back on an article from a decade ago talking about how Java was predicted to be a technology that “doesn’t stand a chance.”
David suggests that, “Looking at that 10 years later I can only think the rumors of Java’s death are greatly exaggerated.” I’m not so sure about that. Java did in fact die. It died quite a horrible death. That death occurred in the consumer-grade desktop application market.
Today I read this prediction that mobile phone game developers will start to create JavaScript-based games, rather than using J2ME. This is partially due to the iPhone, but also because of Motorola’s MOTOMAGX.
I have to say, this is quite unfortunate. JavaScript-based games running in the Web browser have proven, in my experience, to be quite terrible. This is something that I have written about recently. First was my terrible experience trying to play Brickslayer, a JavaScript-based Breakout clone. The I had yet another pathetic experience playing a JavaScript and SVG-based Space Invaders clone.
Thanks to the Agile Ajax blog, I’ve learned about Remember The Milk. Essentially, it’s an online service for managing a to-do list. It apparently integrates with a variety of other services, including Gmail, ICQ, MSN, Skype, AIM, and more. It claims to also allow for task lists to be published and shared with others.