[UnFroMage]

Don't forget that, running on the JVM with great interop means that any Ceylon program has instant access to a huge ecosystem, including not just Java libraries but also Scala libraries. I was able to use Apache Spark in Ceylon ;)

[lmm]

Spark makes a point of having a Java-friendly API. Can you use a pure Scala library that makes heavy use of Scala features, e.g. doobie?

[UnFroMage]

Probably not easily because no JVM language has compatible lambdas types, but ideally in the future I'd love to be able to.

[Apofis]

I think a lot of people missed this crucial point in the article leading me to believe they didn't read the OP.

[lucozade]

Again, I don't think anyone is suggesting that jvm languages can't be successful. The evidence would be against anyone who did.

The question is: why would you use Ceylon over the competition?

There are a number of reason I can think of. You want to target node.js too; you're a Haskeller in your spare time. That sort of thing.

But the question still stands. Is there enough to prefer it to Scala, Kotlin or, gasp, Java?

Honestly, I don't know. But equally there's nothing that stands out for me. If anything this has actually made me think I should probably look at Kotlin again.