> around 2015-17 - Swift could have easily dethroned Python.

Why could it?

> it was simple enough - very fast - could plug into the C/C++ ecosystem. Hence all the numeric stuff people were doing in Python powered by C++ libraries could've been done with Swift.

Half a dozen languages fit this description.

> the server ecosystem was starting to come to life, even supported by IBM.

No, not at all. Kitura, Vapor (a fitting name) were just a toys that no serious player ever touched.

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hocuspocus 4 hours ago | parent [-]

After that, and IBM losing interest, Apple did hire a few competent people (including contributors to Netty and Akka) to build the Swift Server Workgroup.

But I don't know why I'd pick Swift on the server when Rust is better in almost every dimension, with a thriving and more community-driven ecosystem.

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mathverse 3 hours ago | parent [-]

I think it's not about that but about dogfooding Swift on the server. Apple uses Go, Java etc for a lot of its server components and refused to invest in hiring people that would extend the ecosystem for server Swift.

Thats the problem.

	▲	hocuspocus 3 hours ago \| parent [-]
		It certainly doesn't help, but among big tech, Apple is not the only company where teams are siloed and independent. Microsoft has people writing Java or Go instead of C# too. I assume the server side usage is not zero, but not enough to reach a critical mass, you're probably right there.