Cramming an api for one product on top of another is absolutely not “the open source way” I’d expect a much better explanation for this Frankenstein’s monster. This seems like it would work but never scale.
while I agree VS Code is starting to get a lot of traction, it's far from the only solution for polyglot development (IntelliJ...) and it certainly has the facilities to support large java codebases.
Probably because most people who know JS only as a front-end developer have never had to work on the back-end. If a developer knew JS and something like python, java or ruby then sure... that's a good candidate.
When I said "new features" I meant the core language features of groovy (closures, etc.) not static compilation. If speed is really that important to you, sure scala is faster today, but groovy will catch up very soon.
While I applaud anyone trying to get into software development I find it hard to believe that in 2011 "the resources available to a new student developer were limited". I'd also object to ruby being the best first language for someone to learn. Maybe you had trouble getting advice as to where to look to get started, but the internet is full of folks who are eager to give you their 2 cents on that topic. As far as ruby goes, nothing against the language but I personally think it's much more difficult to learn than java or c# which have more applications, a wider audience (and hence more material to read) and better support in terms of IDEs. They are also syntactically much easier for newbies.
That said, I congratulate you on your new found love of programming and your willingness to share the knowledge.
I guess I should feel ripped off by Nissan since I have a cookie cutter SUV. 4 wheels, the trunk has a 3rd row that pops up on demand, I can switch into 4 wheel drive. I did get to pick the color though. I really wish they had thought about making it unique and maybe putting the steering wheel in the back seat.
Seriously dishonest and outdated as well. I love linux but I spend much more time installing things and tweaking my linux boxes than I do my Mac. Linux is awesome for the geek community but it's never going to compete with osx/windows for the casual user, nor should it.