You are citing a commendable exception (Scala) to tear down a bigger argument which is not exactly a fair discussion.

Furthermore, if you trace my comments, you'll see that I had to choose PLs years ago (12+ to be precise). Things were quite different at the time. Java might have almost caught up today; back then we couldn't even be certain `synchronized` is stable all the time. Just saying.

Scala did very well then, judging by your words. I could probably offer a loose analogy to Typescript as well; while it does compile to JS underneath, they added a stricter layer that makes programming in it more deterministic and stable. (Not the same thing because my main point was "runtime" but hey, show me a perfect analogy.)

You are free to say your last sentence. I am free to disagree. My practice has shown me that runtimes bleed into syntax almost always. Exceptions exist, sure.