[postmodest]

Isn't that the SmallTalk model, but everyone decided to use C++ instead?

[pjmlp]

Not everyone, IBM OS/2 SOM had support for Smalltalk, C and C++.

Smalltalk was OS/2's .NET, so to speak.

Unfortunately it all died alongside OS/2, followed by IBM's pivot to Java.

[hypercube33]

Java on the AS/400 is the weirdest thing. The whole platform was designed to be compile once to near assembly and then run cached byte code or whatever. Java is just too late compilation is clunky in comparison imo.

I believe Tribes 2 did something similar just at a higher level