Opa 1.0 Released

phy_si_kal writes "The open source Opa project just released its 1.0 version. Opa appeared last year and was discussed a few times. Throughout the year, Opa adopted a JavaScript-like syntax, gained support for MongoDB and now Node.js. Opa positions itself as the enterprise JavaScript framework due to the safety and security provided by its strong static typing system. Indeed, Opa checks the type safety of the application over the whole application, from client, to server, to database. Opa also provides many automation algorithms, such as the automated use of Node.js fibers at runtime, automated client/server and server/database dialog. The site of the project also announces a developer challenge."

Comment removed

[account_deleted]

Comment removed based on user account deletion

Re:Dreadful summary

[djdanlib]

Well, it celebrates new releases of Opa.

That's about all I can figure out right now.

Re:

[gagol]

From the summary alone, I get it is a new language based on JavaScript syntax but adds string type definition. Now back to read the article...

Re:

[gagol]

I meant strOng type defenition... sorry for the typo

Re:

[hlavac]

Wow, they invented Java?

Re:

[yefrederic]

One of the part of Opa is it's type inference, so you still can write JavaScript like code, but with the type being infered without the need to precise it most of the time.

Re:Dreadful summary

[Anonymous Coward]

Opa watches TV and grumbles a lot. (Opa is German for Grandpa.)

Re:

[Anonymous Coward]

Actually, it's Yiddish for "he who has nose hair longer than head hair". Same for Oma, but "she".

Re:

[rubycodez]

It's also a Greek exclamation of job made by Grandpa when he blows his load.

Re:Dreadful summary

[Razgorov Prikazka]

Like SAP, sanduhr anschau program (program that makes you watch an hour glass)

Re:

[pahles]

I thought it meant Software Against People. Or Submit And Pray.

Re:

[Razgorov Prikazka]

Good one. I heard Stops All Projects as well... :-D

Re:

[Mabhatter]

Solves All Problems

IT management turns over or the company goes bankrupt.... No more problems!

Re:

[koper]

http://opalang.org/faq.xmlt [opalang.org] -> "What does Opa mean"

Re:

[Anonymous Coward]

Wikipedia is more helpful than TFA on this one. It's just a language designed for writing the 'AMP' part of a LAMP stack as a single program. It's what all the cool kids are doing now that Ruby on Rails is mainstream.

All I do know...

[ChickenNugget]

...is that I'm really hungry for gyros!

Re:Dreadful summary

[Anonymous Coward]

It now uses MongoDB and node.js. You know what that means.

Opa does web scale.

Re:Dreadful summary

[Anne_Nonymous]

Opa is the moblie version of Opera.

Re:

[Eponymous Hero]

lmao what is this, the liar's club?

Re:

[Anonymous Coward]

no, he's serious. the name appeared so much in the source that dropping those letters reduced filesize by 37%

Re:Dreadful summary

[Lunix Nutcase]

It allows you to write the same bloated code but in a different langauge.

Re:Dreadful summary

[Eponymous Hero]

it allows you to write the same bloated code of 3 languages in 1 language

Re:

[Eponymous Hero]

this is for web developers. you can go back to whatever you were doing.

Re:

[Anonymous Coward]

So it's mostly for hipsters?

Re:

[Eponymous Hero]

no, but as you can see from the coward below you, most java devs feel superior to web development, mostly because their tools are ill-suited for it and they need to compensate for that void in their ego. java is adequate for just about everything but web development, and that's gotta burn.

Re:

[gagol]

Google Docs is built and maintained by web developers... do you infer Google's staff is mostly composed of glorified script kiddies?

Re:

[dmomo]

Point understood, but... do you infer that Google's staff is mostly comprised of Google-Docs developers? Again, I agree with your sentiment, just not the delivery.

Re:

[HarrySquatter]

Yes. Google Docs is terrible at anything but basic tasks and laggy to boot.

Re:

[Eponymous Hero]

no. you either don't know what a web developer is or you don't know what a script kiddie is. or you don't know what the web is. maybe all three, considering you mentioned DOS batch files.

Re:Dreadful summary

[styrotech]

"web developer" is an oxymoron. you're a script kiddie, barely one step above writing DOS batch files.

Not any more! Now with the new Dos on Dope framework you can be a web developer BY writing DOS batch files!

http://secretgeek.net/dod_intro.asp [secretgeek.net]

Re:

[istartedi]

Summary makes more sense if you read it as SNL's Stefon:

New York's hottest club is.. Opa! It's got a JavaScript-like syntax, support for Mongo DB, Node.js, developer contests, and in the far left corner, an old German man covered with fibers.

Re:

[anubis2003]

I'd like to add that for me, the biggest plus for the language is that it lets you avoid the details of hassling with ajax requests and trying to push notifications to clients by completely abstracting all that away. Compared to most other web development languages/frameworks you know that you can write your entire web app in one language and that if within 1 function you want to persist something to the database and update the webpage DOM you can do that and the opa compiler will handle splitting that out

Re:

[Raenex]

Compared to most other web development languages/frameworks you know that you can write your entire web app in one language and that if within 1 function you want to persist something to the database and update the webpage DOM you can do that and the opa compiler will handle splitting that out into the client-side and server-side code to accomplish that with the glue to hold them together.

Holy run-on sentence, Batman!

Re:

[GreatBunzinni]

I also don't know, but if it supports mongodb then it must be webscale.

Dreadful summary?

[G3ckoG33k]

Opa Mongo Node Mongo!

Re:

[j4w7]

Release announcement that don't at least summarize what the software does drives me bananas.

Pages that don't actually say what the software/framework/etc. does just makes me plantains!

Re:

[citizenr]

So what does Opa actually do?

I bet its Web Scale!

Re:

[Bengie]

I've been looking for a language with near compile speed(1/2-1/4) with full async IO. I wonder if APO addresses any of that.

Re:

[Qwertie]

From the web site: "Opa is the most advanced application framework for JavaScript. All aspects are directly written in Opa: Frontend code, backend code, database queries and configuration. And everything is strongly statically typed."

So you write code in one language, and your functions are automatically translated to Javascript as needed. The same exact code can run on client and server, but if it runs on the server then it can be optimized better because Opa (unlike Javascript) is statically typed.

O

Re:

[yefrederic]

Very good idea for the chapter about Opa for OO dummies. You are absolutely right ;)

Re:

[Mabhatter]

Flying Bison with six legs?

slashdotted

[iplayfast]

Does this meant that opa can't handle a simple slashdotting?!!

Re:

[tom17]

I like what you have to say. Where do I sign?

Link soup

[Anonymous Coward]

Typical Slashdot summary. A bunch of links that tell you a little bit, no clear "main link" and no one clear link that does a clear job explaining what "Opa" is.

Why can't the articles start with a link to one major articles and (maybe) more links in the summary.

Re:

[Infiniti2000]

The very first link is the "main" link, referencing the main gist of the post, i.e., that Opa 1.0 has been released. Everything else is explanatory and support, which is fine. The point is not to explain what Opa is, but that it was released.

Re:Link soup

[gagol]

The problem is they are announcing something without telling what the heck it is. Nobody seems to know squat about it, this is very bad communication.

Re:

[A bsd fool]

All you need to know about it is right there in the blurb. "node.js", "mongoDB", and "enterprise JavaScript framework". That's enough for me to send it to the circular file with extreme prejudice, anyway.

Re:

[koper]

Hopefully the first page of documentation [opalang.org] should answer what Opa is. As for the licensing it's a bit more complicated as we're in the process of changing it, but this blog post [opalang.org] should give you the answers, I hope.

Re:

[gv250]

If I tell you it's Katie's birthday today, it would be polite of me to tell you who Katie is. Similarly, a news report should provide, at least epithetically, a description of its subject.

Re:

[PCM2]

They seem to have changed their technology a little bit, but basically, Opa is a language for Web apps. Instead of writing your app in three (or more) languages like you do now, you write the whole app in Opa. Then you run your Opa code through the Opa compiler, and it generates all the appropriate JavaScript for the front end, the back end code, and the database queries necessary for the application.

Opa ships with its own back-end runtime, which includes an execution engine and a data store, but it sounds

Re:

[anubis2003]

I'm assuming you're referring to the type inferencing? That is done at compile time, not at runtime. Opa is statically typed.

Re:

[Tenebrousedge]

Please post your identity and company publicly so we can all be warned against applying.

Start here. [wikipedia.org]
Further reading. [stackexchange.com]
There's a hell of a lot more to this issue than your prejudices. Anyone that claims either way is objectively better is a fool. The good programmer uses the tool that's suitable for the job.

Re:

[Bengie]

OO languages that don't have strong-typing incur large overhead from not being able to optimize. I remember reading an article about someone who re-wrote parts of javascript to be type-strong, and was able to gain several factors of performance because the optimizer could tell the difference between a string and an int or whatever.

Strong typing is fine, just give flexible casting.

Affero GPL?

[thebjorn]

If I'm reading it correctly, your source needs to be distributed if it touches the opa compiler...?

Re:

[yefrederic]

If you modify the compiler, you have to redistrbute the source indeed. Notice the compiler does not include the standard library and the backends (native/node)

The Opa compiler will remain an AGPL project. The standard library and the native backend will be licensed under the GPL license with the so-called ClassPath exception, like Java. The exception means you can link the GPL code with any code, opening the door to license your application under any license. The forthcoming Node.js backend will be license