Lua is a good choice for what you're looking for:
It's not too buzzy, in that it's about as old as Linux.
It makes an excellent framework language for many reasons. First, it's a simple C 89 library with a REPL thrown in for good measure. The C API is extremely clean and writing bindings for it is breathtakingly efficient. So, wiring in legacy code is always possible.
Also, it is a multi-paradigm. You can make objects, program functionally, stick to good ole' procedural or mix and match.
It has a long pedigree, but it has evolved nicely and is now an extremely stable language. It's modern in that it has first class function, block scoping, coroutines with a pretty robust set of functions to support them, a decent-but won't-set-your-pants-on-fire pattern matching system (LPeg is a module you can use for this and it's FAR better than regex, for my purposes).
Parts will remind you of JavaScript, but most similarities end at the syntax. Lua is best thought of as sort of... C and Scheme have a baby... Or Scheme that doesn't hate you...
Someone on Stackexchange (cannot find the link) said it nicely:
Use something like Ruby or Perl if you want to solve a problem and you don't care to know all of the details of how it got solved. You're happy just to load up some modules and get it done.
Use Lua if you're the kind of person who likes to really understand what is going on and like to hold the *entire* language in your head.
We're using it to build a media framework and the experience has been awesome. Wikimedia recently picked it up and it's been in use in games for a while.
Slashdot Mirror
...by Carl's Jr.
Lua is a good choice for what you're looking for: It's not too buzzy, in that it's about as old as Linux. It makes an excellent framework language for many reasons. First, it's a simple C 89 library with a REPL thrown in for good measure. The C API is extremely clean and writing bindings for it is breathtakingly efficient. So, wiring in legacy code is always possible. Also, it is a multi-paradigm. You can make objects, program functionally, stick to good ole' procedural or mix and match. It has a long pedigree, but it has evolved nicely and is now an extremely stable language. It's modern in that it has first class function, block scoping, coroutines with a pretty robust set of functions to support them, a decent-but won't-set-your-pants-on-fire pattern matching system (LPeg is a module you can use for this and it's FAR better than regex, for my purposes). Parts will remind you of JavaScript, but most similarities end at the syntax. Lua is best thought of as sort of... C and Scheme have a baby... Or Scheme that doesn't hate you... Someone on Stackexchange (cannot find the link) said it nicely: Use something like Ruby or Perl if you want to solve a problem and you don't care to know all of the details of how it got solved. You're happy just to load up some modules and get it done. Use Lua if you're the kind of person who likes to really understand what is going on and like to hold the *entire* language in your head. We're using it to build a media framework and the experience has been awesome. Wikimedia recently picked it up and it's been in use in games for a while.