"Given enough time, though, I think the paradigms that Julia is exploring will make it a killer general-purpose language."
I think its already a Killer general-purpose language (except for the module system).
I'm just not sure if it is good enough to unseat incumbents when there are things like rust with its deterministic memory management or python with all its momentum and compiler technology coming along.
Does this obviate the issue that one has to assign the definition of meaning somewhere in the graph? ie Meaning is subjective, and it has to be inserted to propagate down.
I can't overplay the importance of a octave like DSL.
Julia is gaining marketshare and mindshare among grad student not just due to its speed, but because it is a more fun and intuitive environment in which to code mathy stuff.
These people will in turn filter into industry and if not them, then atleast their code.
Also macros. As Julia gains more utility for run of the mill data science, Its Dplyr like DSL abilities will be very attractive.
Do you see this type system and generic function library as useful for general purpose programming as well? How would that play with mypy and type hints?