Function Points/LOC is about the same for Smalltalk/Lisp/Ruby/Python. There are Smalltalk and Lisp implementations that run impressively fast. Also, memory use is more efficient. Library support is much better on Ruby and Python, however, due to the size and vibrancy of the user communities.
If I were Google, I would develop a server-oriented language on top of the V8 virtual machine, using the "good parts" of Javascript as a compiler target. Add optional typing and type inference, but only as a parse/compile time facility to provide information to the programmer. Add a functional programming sub-grammar with the same facility.
Then, add a fast Python implementation using the same engine, with strong support for calls from one language to the other.
This way, Google would get the benefit of both the vibrant Python community and a fast, scalable VM.
A nice approach is to develop in your VHLL of choice, profile and rewrite the more important parts in a less expressive (but faster/leaner) language like Java or C (or Verilog)
Exactly. (Obviously the preference would not be to prototype ideas in a statically typed language.) My expectation of the mythical Google engineer is that s/he can crank out the code whether its Python, Java, or C++. So, I remain unconvinced that Google the company is going to lose wonderful ideas because of their strong preferences regarding their production codebase.
