It was a calculated risk. Since the company I was working for, at the time, was never going to use Swift, my "bread and butter" was at no risk, whatsoever. We were a C++ shop. I just started working with it on nights and weekends.

Being a C++ shop, however, we were quite familiar with Lattner and LLVM, so we were aware of his propensity for WIN. That gave me some confidence, going forward. Also, Apple didn't just announce a language. They also announced a full system API, as well as a product roadmap. The API showed they were serious about it. Those don't come in Cracker Jack boxes. They take some serious work and investment.

It was definitely a risk, but I'm a conservative, scarred veteran of many errors in judgment (can you say "OpenDoc"? I knew you could!). I wasn't about to run into a burning dumpster, half-assed, and I thought it was worth it. I knew it would take four or five years to mature, and it has. I tend to play the long game. I learned that, from all those years, working with the Japanese.