Why are most programming languages built on top of frameworks?

Question

As programming languages continue to evolve, we see these programming languages that sit on top of frameworks such as Java or .NET, and that's good.

In your opinion, what are the best reasons to build a language on top of a framework?

Disclaimer: i'm not trying to prove something , i thought this was a good topic of discussion

Answer 1

In one word: Reuse.

Frameworks are large collections of classes, methods, etc., like libraries. Unlike libraries, they also enforce rules, so to speak, that define programming standards.

Answer 2

If you ever programmed COM objects by hand (ATL is even worse), or written C programs with the Win32 API, you'll understand easily that .NET is a good thing. It is a modernization of arcane difficult techniques with a certain lack of organization.

I can't agree with you: with the notable exception of C# and Java, languages are not tied to any "framework". Frameworks are just a huge collection of libraries, along with a philosophy, like every huge library. To me, this is just a word for marketing purposes. You can call .NET the "standard windows library" for instance.

Is the POSIX API a framework ? Is the collection of Python libraries a framework ? Is the C++ standard library, or Boost, a framework ? Is Qt a framework ? Is BLAS/LAPACK a framework ? Is Intel Threading Building blocks a framework ?

The world doesn't revolve around .NET or Java.