We don't pick our tools to fit the job? The next big language will be determined by the needs of the largest computer user groups. The particular needs of the

We don't pick our tools to fit the job? The next big language will be determined by the needs of the largest computer user groups. The particular needs of these groups will determine the languages that eventually reach critical mass. Using 5 universal criteria that characterize good programming languages is the wrong approach. For example, in safety critical systems his metric of conciseness is worthless. Ada may sometimes take more lines of code to accomplish a specific task than C but the requirements of safety critical platforms demand the extra effort and cost. The metric is worthless because it isn't picked to coincide with the needs of the users. No one cares that the strong typing or other features in Ada can slow down coding and annoy programmers because this practice eliminates many bugs in the final product. The needs of the end-user for bug free code outweigh their needs to ship quickly and please developers. It is a tool used for a specific job that it handles quite well. Evaluating a programming language with 5 universal metrics ignores that they are tools used to solve the problems of a particular group of users. If you want to figure out what the next big language will be ask what platform will have the most users in the near future and what the needs of those users are. The languages that meet them best are the top choices.