9 ms·

I can't wait to use some of the new features in our production apps. Typescript is/was my bridge into javascript development, because IMHO javascript was a bro

by edroche 10y ago

I can't wait to use some of the new features in our production apps. Typescript is/was my bridge into javascript development, because IMHO javascript was a broken language for a long time, and I am not sure if I could have ever done as much as I have without its existence. Non-nullable types, tagged union types, and easy declaration file acquisition are definitely the biggest wins for me with this release.

nikolay 10y ago
Well, to make JavaScript tolerable, you need to use Babel with tons of plugins and presets. Instead, you can just use TypeScript.
- woah 10y ago
  Still no async/await though, right?
  - vmasto 10y ago
    No the spec is finished and Babel supports it. Browsers already have started implementing it. Edit: I realize you mean Typescript, my apologies
qwertyuiop924 10y ago
Javascript isn't as broken as you might think. Non-nullable types, OTOH, might just be the thing that makes me start using TS, despite my love of dynamic typing.
- niieani 10y ago
  Try adding 1.3 + 1.1 and tell me JavaScript isn't broken. Hint: The result is isn't 2.4, it's 2.4000000000000004. Unfortunately that's something TypeScript doesn't tackle, but you can use external libraries for floats, where you work on floats as... strings.
  - dvlsg 10y ago
    That's arguably a problem in almost every language that follows the IEEE 754 standard. It doesn't make much sense to pin that problem solely on Javascript.
  - qwertyuiop924 10y ago
    JS does that... And so does C, and just about every other language out there.
  - keithnz 10y ago
    when you work with floats, never expect anything to exactly equal a value, ie, it should be banned to use <float> === <constant> . That is universal across languages, for exact representations often languages provide another type. But floating point is popular because CPUs can natively work with them.
    - Roboprog 10y ago
      For financial work, you want to use a fixed precision or binary coded decimal library, such as java's BigDecimal. You knew that, but I'm just spelling it out for others.
      - qwertyuiop924 10y ago
        ...Or you could use Scheme, where we have precise numbers (fractions)
  - h1d 10y ago
    Is that your only complaint about JS?
  - Roboprog 10y ago
    Well, here's one way around that, at least on the server: https://github.com/roboprog/nashorn_play/blob/master/script/np_script/src/js/java_user.js https://github.com/roboprog/nashorn_play/blob/master/script/...
- rtpg 10y ago
  non-nullable types are excellent. It basically gives you implicit Maybe/Option.
  - jiaweihli 10y ago
    For explicit Maybe/Option try Monapt[1]. Disclaimer: I might know the author =) [1] https://github.com/jiaweihli/monapt https://github.com/jiaweihli/monapt
    - KirinDave 10y ago
      Please tell the author Either is where it's at these days. Even F# is doing it! :)
- Roboprog 10y ago
  Yeah, I'm sick of the "static types and classes!!!" crowd, too. I've come to the conclusion that "mandatory and immutable" should be the default, but there are precious few languages in which that is the case, rather than some noise words that have to be plastered all over. (the noise words should be something like "dont_know_when_or_if" and "whacked_whenever_i_feel" for optional and mutable to make you cringe when you use such a local/parameter/return-value. It's always funny (funny-sad) to read a project or a research paper that discovered "static types turned out not to catch as many errors as we thought it would". We've made our turing tar pit, now we have to live in it :-( ... at least until we push the whole C-and-its-spawn edifice over the cliff.
  - qwertyuiop924 10y ago
    Well, if you assume Static Types, or anything else, is the be-all-end-all. If you use a bit of common sense, you should be fine.
    - Roboprog 10y ago
      I hear you. Compile time types can be useful, but again, I'm just weary of hearing from the people who want to make them mandatory, and seem unwilling to consider the tradeoffs. Enter the XML config file... :-( I ranted quite a bit lately about partial function application as well, but it's not appropriate for everything. But when when you're dealing with a crowd that has no idea that there are other ways of doing some things...
      - qwertyuiop924 10y ago
        I mean, yeah. Mandatory typing isn't always The Right Thing, and XML config <english:word:grammar:adjective:insult value="sucks"/>. And it is a tradeoff. And partial application is never necessary. It's elegant and useful, and can save you a bit of typing, yes, but it's never needed. It's nice to be able to type: map (+ 3) a-list but I don't mind: (map (lambda (x) (+ x 3)) a-list) and in most Schemes, there's a macro called cut, which means you can do this: (map (cut + <> 3) a-list) Which is almost as nice as the first one, and works regardless of the position of the arg you want to apply. And it's no so much that the crowd doesn't know that there are other ways of doing things, it's that they reject them out of hand, because they're different.
lcfcjs 10y ago
Typescript sucks, but luckily Javascript is so flexible that we can keep butt badgers like you around :)

by edroche 10y ago

nikolay 10y ago

Well, to make JavaScript tolerable, you need to use Babel with tons of plugins and presets. Instead, you can just use TypeScript.

woah 10y ago
Still no async/await though, right?
- vmasto 10y ago
  No the spec is finished and Babel supports it. Browsers already have started implementing it. Edit: I realize you mean Typescript, my apologies

qwertyuiop924 10y ago

Javascript isn't as broken as you might think. Non-nullable types, OTOH, might just be the thing that makes me start using TS, despite my love of dynamic typing.

niieani 10y ago
Try adding 1.3 + 1.1 and tell me JavaScript isn't broken. Hint: The result is isn't 2.4, it's 2.4000000000000004. Unfortunately that's something TypeScript doesn't tackle, but you can use external libraries for floats, where you work on floats as... strings.
- dvlsg 10y ago
  That's arguably a problem in almost every language that follows the IEEE 754 standard. It doesn't make much sense to pin that problem solely on Javascript.
- qwertyuiop924 10y ago
  JS does that... And so does C, and just about every other language out there.
- keithnz 10y ago
  when you work with floats, never expect anything to exactly equal a value, ie, it should be banned to use <float> === <constant> . That is universal across languages, for exact representations often languages provide another type. But floating point is popular because CPUs can natively work with them.
  - Roboprog 10y ago
    For financial work, you want to use a fixed precision or binary coded decimal library, such as java's BigDecimal. You knew that, but I'm just spelling it out for others.
    - qwertyuiop924 10y ago
      ...Or you could use Scheme, where we have precise numbers (fractions)
- h1d 10y ago
  Is that your only complaint about JS?
- Roboprog 10y ago
  Well, here's one way around that, at least on the server: https://github.com/roboprog/nashorn_play/blob/master/script/np_script/src/js/java_user.js https://github.com/roboprog/nashorn_play/blob/master/script/...
rtpg 10y ago
non-nullable types are excellent. It basically gives you implicit Maybe/Option.
- jiaweihli 10y ago
  For explicit Maybe/Option try Monapt[1]. Disclaimer: I might know the author =) [1] https://github.com/jiaweihli/monapt https://github.com/jiaweihli/monapt
  - KirinDave 10y ago
    Please tell the author Either is where it's at these days. Even F# is doing it! :)
Roboprog 10y ago
Yeah, I'm sick of the "static types and classes!!!" crowd, too. I've come to the conclusion that "mandatory and immutable" should be the default, but there are precious few languages in which that is the case, rather than some noise words that have to be plastered all over. (the noise words should be something like "dont_know_when_or_if" and "whacked_whenever_i_feel" for optional and mutable to make you cringe when you use such a local/parameter/return-value. It's always funny (funny-sad) to read a project or a research paper that discovered "static types turned out not to catch as many errors as we thought it would". We've made our turing tar pit, now we have to live in it :-( ... at least until we push the whole C-and-its-spawn edifice over the cliff.
- qwertyuiop924 10y ago
  Well, if you assume Static Types, or anything else, is the be-all-end-all. If you use a bit of common sense, you should be fine.
  - Roboprog 10y ago
    I hear you. Compile time types can be useful, but again, I'm just weary of hearing from the people who want to make them mandatory, and seem unwilling to consider the tradeoffs. Enter the XML config file... :-( I ranted quite a bit lately about partial function application as well, but it's not appropriate for everything. But when when you're dealing with a crowd that has no idea that there are other ways of doing some things...
    - qwertyuiop924 10y ago
      I mean, yeah. Mandatory typing isn't always The Right Thing, and XML config <english:word:grammar:adjective:insult value="sucks"/>. And it is a tradeoff. And partial application is never necessary. It's elegant and useful, and can save you a bit of typing, yes, but it's never needed. It's nice to be able to type: map (+ 3) a-list but I don't mind: (map (lambda (x) (+ x 3)) a-list) and in most Schemes, there's a macro called cut, which means you can do this: (map (cut + <> 3) a-list) Which is almost as nice as the first one, and works regardless of the position of the arg you want to apply. And it's no so much that the crowd doesn't know that there are other ways of doing things, it's that they reject them out of hand, because they're different.

lcfcjs 10y ago

Typescript sucks, but luckily Javascript is so flexible that we can keep butt badgers like you around :)