Mr Speaker

Ok, Apple comes out with a brand new programming language.

Creating a new programming language is the absolute surest way to invite a hurricane of internet pain from coders worried they've bet on the wrong horse. Generally they'll try to shout at the horse until it dies - mostly with nasty tweets.

Yet somehow Apple got away with it. The reaction was unreservedly, un-internet-ly positive; even the worst opinions around were like, "meh" with not a death-threat to be seen - an incredible achievement as anyone who has ever tried to release a new language or framework can attest!

How did they survive the terror of day zero, and thus giving Swift a fighting chance to flourish? The spark of evolutionary genius was to make the language (on a superficial level, at least) look exactly like all other languages at the same time! This familiarity translated in to superiority and pomp on the part of the coder, which let them consider the possibility of maybe possibly trying it out some time.

Swift looks pretty nice to me. I maybe possibly will try it out some time. But to paraphrase the internet, Is it just me, or do some of these comments seem familiar?

• Swift is what javascript wants to be
• First impressions are that Swift looks a lot like Javascript.
• As a someone who writes JavaScript for a living, Swift is very inviting.
• First impressions are that Swift looks a lot like Javascript.
• #Apple no longer has imagination! #Swift copied from #javascript;
• It looks pretty JavaScript-y, which is familiar at least. I think this is a good move on Apple's part.
• Apple is copying ECMAScript 6, bizarro-style
• Here's a browser-based tool to let you try out Apple's new "Swift" programming language, right now! http://www.es6fiddle.net
• Swift: just like JavaScript, but different
• So #swift is basically JavaScript on steroids!
• Swift - Apple's Version of JavaScript
• Does Swift resemble javascript minus the semicolons?
• Swift looks like JavaScript. Scares me when I see "var" a lot.
• This Swift Lang looks like Javascript done right.
• Seriously. To me it reads like Javascript.
• Apple's new programming language looks a lot like Javascript.
• One-liner: JavaScript syntax sugaring on top of Objective-C. #Swift
• Swift looks like Javascript D:
• Swift is a lot similar to Javascript, and I love javascript, so I'm pretty excited about it.
• long live JavaScript! ....Ehm, sorry, swift!
• Swift looks like Javascript to me, with little touch of silver and fanciness.
• Objective-C influenced by JavaScript = Swift
• Swift looks a lot like an F’d-over, rebuilt JavaScript — Which might be good.
• Very glad that my other language is JavaScript. Swift is 90% similar to js.
• Interestingly, #Swift seems to look a lot like AS3 or ES6, I might even like it :)
• #Swift looks like #AS3…
• Swift looks like ES6 ?
• #Swift got some inspiration from #ES6?
• on the surface, it feels like Swift is a lot like #ES6
• new language Swift looks a lot like ES6 JavaScript or dare I say ActionScript
• Swift looks A LOT like ES6.
• the similarities between Swift and ES6 are quite striking.
• anyone notice that swift syntax looks like ES6, Coffeescript & ActionScript smashed together?
• After a quick glance, it's really interesting how similar Apple's new Swift language looks to ES6.
• Looks like Apple Swift has brought a lot from ES6… for the best!
• It's ES6... Swift is ES6 code... This is amazing.
• Swift is a an ES6 dialect. Way to many things there. In a way it seems closer to TypeScript.
• #Swift looks surprisingly like #TypeScript
• So... Swift is just Typescript for iOS, right? Right?
• Let’s be honest, #Swift looks a lot like Typescript - but it’s cool
• swift is looking kinda like typescript
• #swift -> #typescript
• Swift, TypeScript #sameguy
• Swift reminded me of CoffeeScript a little, in a good sense
• "And… I've imported Cocoa into CoffeeScript!"
• Really like the #Swift syntax -> #Coffeescript goes primetime ;)
• swift looks alot like python x javascript
• Clearly Apple folks who designed Swift were influenced by python. Would have been nice if they just used python instead.
• Swift is Python influenced?
• Pues swift me recuerda mucho a python :o
• What's your take on Apple's Swift? Looks a lot like Python to me
• Swift looks a lot like Python?
• Apple swift reads more like Python than C. Me like.
• Apple unveils new programming language, Swift. Many similarities to Python.
• #swift feels so familiar to python
• Ahhh... I get it now.. Python is swift + fat.
• Syntax has some good things from #Python language
• Apart from the shitty brackets, Swift looks a lot like Python!
• Apple's Swift programming language inspired by Groovy
• it seems Swift is a lot like Groovy
• The fact that Apple chose #groovy as an inspiration for swift, and not #scala says a lot.
• #Swift sure looks #Groovy! :-)
• The new swift language is really groovy i must say :)
• Swift is what would happen if Grails & Javascript got together and had a baby.
• Ruby on Grails… just sayin'.
• Seems Swift borrowed some of Ruby’s good ideas.
• So... swift = ruby + javascript ES6
• Does anyone else think swift looks like ruby with more brackets?
• Swift feels very Ruby-like to me
• Swift: Because Apple couldn’t convince Matz to port Ruby directly for them.
• Swift looks like Ruby with braces.
• As far as I read it is a fairly nice rip-off of Ruby.
• At first sight #swift syntax looks like ruby. At the second sight too.
• Apple discovers #ruby an call it #swift
• Is Swift taking cues from Ruby , nice !
• At least now we can finally write Ruby ehrm Swift for iOS
• I see a whole lot of Ruby in Swift. Looks pretty simple though.
• Swift’s syntax looks suspiciously like Ruby. I’m loving it!
• Swift looks very similar to Ruby.
• So I’m not the only one to think that Swift feels like Ruby
• Reading the Swift language docs, it hard not to see how it's very much inspired by Ruby.
• Remarkably similar in Ruby.
• Swift’s syntax is very much like Ruby, which seems cool.
• Is it just me or did Apple create a Ruby compiler and call it Swift?
• Can see places where there's a clear Ruby influence.
• Q: What to learn? A: Swift - Ruby - C++
• Ruby people will feel right at home with Swift
• Is it just me, or does it feel like swift is heavily influenced by RubyMotion?
• is it just me or does Swift really look like an apple version of Haxe?
• Is it just me or does Apple's Swift language look a LOT like AS3/Haxe?
• On first inspection, Swift looks a lot like Haxe.
• syntax is Python-like & clean and you already like Apple
• Swift really reminds me of golang. Which I love.
• If #javascript and #golang had a baby, it would be apple's new #swift lang
• Really? No one sees how Apple’s Swift is more or less Go with some extra keywords?
• I'm getting some strong golang vibes from Swift.
• Definite elements of golang and python
• Apple's Swift looks pretty much like "we got jealous of golang"
• For basic scripts (sans classes), #swift and #golang are really really similar.
• #swift reminds me of #golang--but does it have the same excellent tooling?
• Swift. It's like http://golang.org/ , but Apple made it.
• Swift me recuerda mucho a Golang
• Swift reminds me of GoLang
• Though #swift borrows from #golang syntactically, it unfortunately doesn't borrow from it's Type system to replace Protocols.
• Swift looks much like golang in the 23seconds I've looked at it
• Apple totally has #golang envy.
• looks Like #golang
• Initial feels are "a little like golang, but less clever/good".
• Like Go, without fancy concurrency primitives :)
• Swift looks like typescript crossed with golang!
• Swift is like the child of Coffeescript and Golang
• There's some Lua/Go in there, some Ruby, closure
• You can see the pattern matching inspiration was from Clojure
• Is anyone getting the vibe that swift is golang for writing Cocoa apps, or is it just me?
• Funny how he forgot to mention Golang somehow while that seems to be one of the bigger inspirations for the language.
• It feels exactly like go, with just enough irritating differences to be painful
• Haskell has had a big influence on Swift
• I'll say it again, I'm so glad I know Haskell. #swift
• Looks like they've learned a lot from Haskell
• Swift = C syntactic sugar for Haskell.
• It seems to incorporate a lot of Haskell syntax / paradigms. :-)
• swift seems to borrow from haskell …omg
• shades of Haskell in Swift function signatures
• It seems that #swift picked up some ideas/syntax from FP and #haskell
• Reading the Swift iBook, thinking of Haskell. Loving it :)
• Swift looks as much like Haskell as it does JavaScript
• Swift borrows heavily from Haskell. I like that. I LIKE THAT A LOT.
• It's like C meets Haskell, but in a good way.
• lots and lots of haskell influence in swift
• more #haskell than before, because now you really can use #haskell pattern in #swift
• Swift seems to have many features borrowed from Haskell. Agree?
• A few pages short, it actually felt like Haskell! #swift
• It's closest relative is Kotlin, as far as I can see
• Swift actually has a strong smell of Kotlin. Interesting.
• am surprised how close Apple's Swift is to Kotlin
• Apple's new Swift language is extremely similar to Kotlin. Certainly a step up from Objective C
• Apple’s Swift looks a lot like Kotlin — not a bad thing from what I hear.
• Swift looks like @project_kotlin
• It seems to be c# more than anything else.
• The language seems more closer to F# than C# to me.
• Congrats to the Sharp family (#fsharp and #csharp) on the birth of baby #Swift!
• The new Apple swift language looks a lot like F#
• Ist Apple Swift ein F# Klon?
• How much have #Apple engineers borrowed from Don Syme's functional language F# ?
• Can we all just be glad that Swift was not named Objective-F?
• swift is a bit like F#, uglier syntax in swift though
• I would not be surprised if Swift ends up really benefitting Clojure adoption indirectly.
• Swift = Python + Clojure
• Does #swift look like a twisted (but maybe fun?) mixture of #clojure and #python, or is it just me?
• Is this #Swift language a joke? I just took a look at it and it has all the language features of #clojure. Like a #lisp but unrolled.
• Swift looks like clojure in lightable (which is a good thing!)
• Looks like Clojure in LighTable #swift
• It seems to borrow quite extensively from C# and ... I don't know how to say this politely or modestly ... Rust.
• swift looks like twin brother to csharp, check it out
• To be honest though #swift looks ok. Like a slightly more functional #csharp
• It looks more like #csharp than #ObjectiveC ... Which makes me wonder why not just use c#??
• I understand that Apple needs to create "his way" but I would have much liked if he would adopt #csharp instead of create #swift
• #Swift borrows extensively from #CSharp
• From the quick look I've taken #swift looks to have borrowed a lot from the more recent versions of C#.
• Actually it's a lot more like the new C#, which is probably a good thing.
• Apple Swift: just a mixture of Scala and C#
• As a C# developer, I've felt familiar to this lanuage. I don't know why...
• #Swift and #CSharp, more similarities than differences? Discuss.
• Holy crap, the similarities between Rust and Swift are huge and abundant. It's uncanny.
• Mutability rules in Swift are borrowed from #rustlang.
• Swift is great if your programming skills are a little Rust-y
• It looks like Rust was a major influence.
• feels like a lot like rust after reading the spec
• Yeah, swift is very rust-esque
• Swift looks a lot like Rust. I wonder if Apple forked Rust to create Swift.
• Swift taste like Rust on the first sip.
• So Swift is basically Rust. Calling this.
• Aaaaand my first look at Swift is... for some reason reminding me of @mozilla's Rust.
• #swift is basically a closed-source rust
• So far through reading the guide Swift feels a lot like Rust.
• Is it me or does Swift look like Rust?
• Swift looks so Rust-y!
• is swift a rust fork y/n?
• Wow, Swift looks like Rust.
• Isn't swift like Apple Rust?
• Apples Swift programming language looks quite a bit like Rust….
• Been reading a lot about Rust lately and Swift seems to have borrowed a lot from it, which is good by the way.
• A lot of the syntax is incredibly similar to rust.
• My view of Swift is: not a good enough reason not to continue using Lua for the same problem.
• There is a lot more overlap between Swift and C#/Java than with Rust.
• From a user's point of view, it's basically straight out of the Rust book
• Anyone else see quite a lot of Scala here?
• I'm telling you, Swift is heavily influenced by Scala
• Very similar, but Swift is more imperative [than Scala]
• Swift is Rust + Scala ?
• The more #swift I read, the more #scala I see.
• #swift smells like #Scala
• So @apple #swift is #scala for objective-C then?
• it seems very close to Scala. Which is good :)
• The #swift language looks great. Takes many cues from #scala but compiles natively
• See a lot of Scala in the Swift syntax.
• Anyone see anything similar between Scala / roslyn and #swift?
• Swift is like Scala done right
• Swift looks like Scala for children. And that's very good news.
• Swift looks a lot like Scala
• Apple's new programming language (Swift) is surprisingly similar to Scala.
• swift = scala right???
• 60 seconds with #Swift and i cant help but think of #Scala
• Apple's new programming language Swift looks like Scala :)
• A lot of Scala in Swift.
• at first glance Swift has an awful lot in common with Scala
• Good lord, #Swift looks like #Scala! Really can't decide if that's great or terrible news.
• Scala & Swift where sitting in a tree… perfect marriage ;)
• swift is the .net from apple - I like to think of it as the Scala?
• Just looked briefly at Swift. Feels... like Scala. Very much like Scala.
• Given my experience in Scala, the Swift feels like coming home. Core of the languages are almost identical to my eyes.
• Apple's new "Swift" language appears to be mostly influenced by Scala. I'm not sure this is a good thing.
• SwiftはScalaみたいな感じかな？
• Oh look! Apple's Swift tries to be like #Scala
• #Apple's new #Swift language appears to be very heavily influenced by #Scala
• I am surprised noone mentioned Erlang!
• Hmmm Swift... Is this the new Erlang?
• If Objective-C and Erlang had a super child, it would be called Swift.
• Apple releases the Swift programming language. Who remembers Dylan?
• Swift is like Dylan gone electric
• Some clever people say Swift might have roots in Dylan… make your own mind up.
• The more I read about it, the more I think Swift is Apple's second try on Dylan.
• Swift, Dylan. Swift, Dylan. Grumble.
• I've already heard one person describe Swift as "Objective Dylan"…
• Is it just me, or does swift look a hell of a lot like Dylan.
• but have to thank Swift for having me going down memory lane with Dylan and Mindy
• It seems that there's nothing in Swift that there was not already in Apple Dylan 20 years ago
• Has some features from Lisp.
• Swift: ornate. But not a patch on Lisp.
• The Swift demo was like glimpsing LISP by way of Python. It will be fun to write in.
• I immediately think, "aha" that looks like a Common Lisp REPL...here we go again.
• Keep borrowing from #Lisp, or… #clojure
• There are traces of #Lisp inside Apple's Swift
• Swifties! Did You Know These 50 Awesome Facts About Taylor Swift?

I've omitted the equally long list of combinatorial tweets ("X and Y had a baby!"), as well as the wall of "Lol at the idiots who think Swift looks like X!" tweets. For brevity... and in the interests of full disclosure: one of my own tweets in up there. Take it away Doobies!