HN user
Our company implemented two rpc protocols(don't ask me why..)
One is based on json, one is modified thrift. The schemaless feature is among the many problems of json, but it's not the most annoying one. That would be binary support.
Imagine we need to make a upload/download storage service with json rpc...So as a rule of thumb, I would consider:
1. Web facing? json would do.
2. RPC? Pick protobuf or thrift or any protocol supporting native types including binary.
As others' comments, it's totally different maintaining a successful business from launching one. The decision should be based on what value the language can provide.
I'm in a very python heavy company, and maintains the python architecture that are being used on hundreds of servers. The ugly part(lack of restriction, multiprocessing, distribution) quickly shows why it's not suited for very large system.
But I'm curious at which point, we would be so annoyed as to decide to rewrite the whole stuff.
Happened to drag a mp3 file, it'll be nice to have an html5 player for it when viewd from dragdis