I don't think it's fair to compare Java with Haskell or OCaml since they don't share the same objectives. But even if you did compare them, you should try to ma

I don't think it's fair to compare Java with Haskell or OCaml since they don't share the same objectives. But even if you did compare them, you should try to match Java's subtyping with Haskell's more-or-less dependent types. Java's type system is apparently strong enough to express co- and contra-variance, which is quite an accomplishment. Talking about ActiveRecord: I've come to understand this system has been the focal-point of insecurity by design issues (http://railspikes.com/2008/9/22/is-your-rails-application-safe-from-mass-assignment http://railspikes.com/2008/9/22/is-your-rails-application-sa...) To answer your question, I'd strongly suggest to have a look at Scala. It's clean code, easy to read, fast and as expressive as ActiveRecord (plus the type-safety).