Water (programming language)

Water is a computer programming language which is object-oriented, and prototype-based. It is intended for rapid prototyping of XML Web services and applications. It uses a variant of XML syntax termed ConciseXML.

Rationale

Generally, common practice in creating Web services is to use multiple languages, of two main types: (1) markup languages, such as HTML, CSS, XML, etc., and (2) more general programming languages such as JavaScript, Java, PHP, ASP, etc.

Water can combine the functions of all of these, and more, in one lower cost, and easier to maintain language.

Water's main design goal is to be powerful while remaining simple, by reducing the number of languages, protocols, interfaces, and translations needed to run web services; to eliminate multiple code-generating layers of programs, and the need for many special-purpose languages.

It runs within a Java Virtual Machine, and thus can use Java libraries. It also runs within a run time environment called "Steam Engine", and is developed with an integrated development environment named "Steam IDE". Presently, Water is interpreted.

It supports the novel "execution kinds" concept, aiding metaprogramming. The designers claim that Water is as easy to use as BASIC, but as powerful as Lisp.

Notable users of Water include the United States Air Force, and United Technologies' Pratt & Whitney.[1]

External links

• Waterlanguage.org: main page
• Bostonwater.org: user group
• ConciseXML: Water's syntax
• Clear Methods, Inc.: the company behind the language
• Water Code: the site for Water development
• Yahoo Groups: waterlanguage: a forum/mailing-list community for Water
• InformIT article on Water: The Quickest Route To Implementing Web Services
• Extended Fixup Language: Computerletter article