Yes, first point, and datatypes as well. And to be fair, the author does state clearly that some of the features & benefits he lists can come from a mix of language/standard libraries, OS, runtime or third-party. At the end of the day, you just have to be able to be productive with the language.
If you’re coming up with a brand new language, you have to do a damn good job of compensating for it by piggybacking on existing VM/Libraries/third-party tools (which Swift largely does), building it in your language and standard lib (e.g. Ruby), or doing a good job at attracting a new community to build that for you.
If you’re coming up with a brand new language, you have to do a damn good job of compensating for it by piggybacking on existing VM/Libraries/third-party tools (which Swift largely does), building it in your language and standard lib (e.g. Ruby), or doing a good job at attracting a new community to build that for you.