I have a feeling that Dart may be some version of Bracha's Newspeak. If you read his blog post on Javascript's failings, you'll see him talk about how they are

I have a feeling that Dart may be some version of Bracha's Newspeak. If you read his blog post on Javascript's failings, you'll see him talk about how they are already trying hard to have Newspeak fill the gap: http://gbracha.blogspot.com/2011/03/truthiness-is-out-there.html http://gbracha.blogspot.com/2011/03/truthiness-is-out-there.... There is also an uncanny link between the features Dart highlights -- security, optional typing, modularity -- and Newspeak. The timing of Newspeak development and Google's Dart also coincide perfectly. The blog post talks about a Javascript compiler, pluggable type system, IDE (Brightly?) all being in the works. Newspeak's pluggable type system sounds similar to what is known about Dart. For instance, http://bracha.org/newspeak.pdf http://bracha.org/newspeak.pdf > We also intend to extend Newspeak with an optional type system and a framework for pluggable types , enabling the language to enjoy most benefits of static type systems without incurring their limitations. It also seems like a smart engineering choice to base whatever Dart is heavily on some proven language, even if there is a new VM. Given that Newspeak is Bracha's most recent attempt and it's goals are so well aligned, it's hard to imagine he'd start from scratch.