If you could use any language for general development, then which would you use?

[baccheion]

For example, which would you use to replace Java (if you didn't have to worry about finding Engineers, etc), for example, or would you just use Java?

[edwcar13]

I would say either python or ruby. Reasons:

PYTHON:

1. Python is white space sensitive forcing you to write clean code.

2. Python has been around since 1991.

3. Python is in my opinion the easiest when it comes to learning curve

4. Sites like YouTube and Google started on python.

RUBY:

1. Ruby is the popular language today because of ruby on rails.

2. ROR cuts down development and testing time.

3. Ruby has gems for just about everything now, most vendor code that use to be considered third party are now gems.

4. Sites like airbnb and fiverr use ruby

End: This is for both. The communities are huge, the years of examples, modules and libraries are extensive

[pedalpete]

Javascript, I know there will be many haters, my reasons are

* it runs on so many devices, browsers, servers, mobile, IoT, what's next...

* large community of developers

* huge number of available modules

* decent performance (and improving with things like asm)

* so many languages compile to it

I think it is important to think not only of where the language is today, but where it will be in 10 years or more. Sure there are issues with Javascript, their are issues with NPM, etc, etc, but with the huge body of developers working on javascript and the javascript ecosystem, I suspect these will continue to be worked out.

Javascript devs have a bit of a cavalier attitude at the moment (I'm one), but I think/hope that over the coming years we will work out the existing issues and make javascript a more respected language.

[mpbm]

Livecode. It's a high level scripting language that compiles into executables for every platform. They're almost done with the HTML5 version, which will compile into an executable for the browser.

It's friendly enough that I taught myself and got my prototype built for all the major desktops. I'm working on an associated website now and I don't even have to learn PHP because I can keep using Livecode for web scripting as long as Livecode Server is installed.

So, basically, learn Livecode and replace a half dozen other languages.

[enitihas]

Python, because of two reasons: 1. The syntax is very clean and readable. 2. Availability of libraries for almost every task.

[download13]

Haskell. The type system eliminates a huge segment of errors that you only discover later in more dynamic langauges.