Top five scripting languages on the JVM

Link: http://www.computerworld.com/s/article/9179158/Top_five_scripting_languages_on_the_JVM?taxonomyId=18&pageNumber=1


In this article, I examine a handful of these languages, comparing and contrasting them, and identifying the needs they satisfy particularly well. I limit myself to the JVM languages that are free and open source. The closed source, commercial world, surprisingly, has few comparable offerings. The one standout is Cold Fusion Markup Language, which is part of Adobe's Cold Fusion Web application development environment.
Technologists differ on what exactly is a scripting language. In its narrowest definition, it's a language that enables the developer to write quick programs. These programs are generally interpreted or semicompiled, rather than compiled in the traditional manner. In choosing the languages for this review, I used a broader definition, which is any JVM language that is simpler to code in than Java. Some are compiled, others are semicompiled, but all are suitable for rapid development. The languages I've focused on are Groovy, JRuby, Fantom, Jython, and Scala. There are a few other candidates, namely Clojure, JavaFX, and NetRexx, which I cover briefly at the end.
The JVM scripting languages today naturally divide into two groups based on their rate of adoption. Groovy and JRuby fall into the popular camp, while the others are niche players -- that is, they appeal to a small community at present. It's important to note, however, that both Groovy and JRuby were also niche players two years ago, so there is no reason to believe that a niche language is relegated permanently to the margins. I believe that the likelihood of emergence favors Scala, then Fantom, and finally Jython. As I explain later, I think Jython's moment in the sun has probably come and gone.