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It all depends on the problem. Dynamic languages like Ruby and Python are good for rapid development, but not for high volume, soft realtime problems like Twitter has. Just make sure to match your tools to you problems and try and oddly hack a solution with a tool that is not best for the job.

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Yeah my contention was that they're great for certain phases but once you start reaching scaling problems the JVM might be the better solution.

Also, twitter is at a point where they can afford the best programmers, and where hardware efficiency becomes a big issue. In my experience, a lot of web-based small companies are more limited by skill, development practice than language and hardware usage. Only once you solved the former can you focus on the latter.

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