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by fakedang 1294 days ago
Didn't it have something to do with Dart being pushed as Google's pet language? I have heard arguments that it was chosen because TS is Microsoft's pet, while Oracle was having a picnic with Java (this was around the time of the Google-Oracle saga). Dart was seen as a way for Google to be independent of both, and Kotlin wasn't developed yet at the time, hence Flutter went with Dart.
1 comments
pjmlp 1294 days ago
It is a bit more convulated than that.

Dart was being pushed as JavaScript replacement, back when everyone had one.

However Chrome team failed to push ChromiumVM and eventually the project was ramped down, by then AdWords had made a massive investment moving from GWT into AngularDart, so they rescued the project.

Eventually Flutter, initally prototyped in JavaScript, moved into Dart, and they also decided to change the language semantics from dynamic language with gradual typing (Dart 1.x), to static typing with type inference (Dart 2.0).

Somewhere alongside this timeline, many well known names from language design like Gilad Bracha and Kasper Lund, well known for favouring dynamic languages, left the project.

Kasper Lund's latest project, is not surprising also a dynamic language, https://toit.io/

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dr_kiszonka 1294 days ago
Do you know what is the relationship between Dart/Flutter and Kotlin? On paper, it seems that Dart/Flutter is a better choice in the context of mobile dev because it is cross platform. If I were to focus on Android exclusively, would Kotlin offer any advantages over Dart/Flutter?

I guess I am trying to understand why these two coexist, which one to learn, and how likely it is that Google will kill Dart/Flutter in the next 5-10 years.

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pjmlp 1293 days ago
Politics, go to Android SDK site, you will hardly find anything related to Flutter.

It is all about Java, Kotlin, C, C++, Web widgets and PWAs.

I am not a big Kotlin fan, the way Android has pushed it using their Android Java as counter example instead of supporting modern Java, however as JVM language it definitely has a broader industry support than Dart.

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dr_kiszonka 1293 days ago
Very useful - thanks for answering!
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fakedang 1293 days ago
Just to add on, Kotlin also does have some (limited) multi-platform features, with potential to build on for more.

Honestly, Flutter is an amazing framework conceptually, but Dart may prove to be its demise. I just hope there is a possibility for Flutter based on Typescript or Kotlin in the future.

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pjmlp 1293 days ago
That is impossible, because Flutter is written in Dart on top of Skia, most Dart 2.0 features have been done to improve that development experience, using any other language means basically a full rewrite.
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fakedang 1293 days ago
I know that.... But apparently with all the issues Flutter has, there is a possibility that a full rewrite will be absolutely necessary to rectify them.
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kennytilton 1292 days ago
"a full rewrite will be absolutely necessary"

cough Well, this article _is_ about a delightful Lispy alternative to Dart that compiles to Dart, yielding a superior language with Genuine Dart Inside(tm) and elegant support of Flutter.

Dart may end up living on inside ClojureDart, much like DOS living on deep inside Windows and PCs.

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