node.js is the new java

it greatly improves on it's predecessors
familiar syntax
it's designed to be practical, to the chagrin of CS purists
next-generation of applications being built (hadoop, palantir, runsecape :  asana, meteor)

designed to be practical

Symta:

point X Y = [X=X; Y=Y; add P = point X+P.X Y+P.Y]

JavaScript:

function point(X,Y)
{
  this.X = X;
  this.Y = Y;
  this.add = function (P) { return point (this.X + P.X, this.Y + P.Y); }
}