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I completely agree. The fact that there are so many abstractions that compile/transpile into javascript is also a big red flag. What other languages do you see

by cx1000 10y ago

I completely agree. The fact that there are so many abstractions that compile/transpile into javascript is also a big red flag. What other languages do you see that in? And then of course there is the horrible standard library, where the most obvious functions don't exist and require a package and maintainer. https://mobile.twitter.com/mitsuhiko/status/712624914071728128 https://mobile.twitter.com/mitsuhiko/status/7126249140717281... https://www.reddit.com/r/programming/comments/4bjss2/an_11_line_npm_package_called_leftpad_with_only/?st=J1182X6I&sh=d6f61965 https://www.reddit.com/r/programming/comments/4bjss2/an_11_l...

vmasto 10y ago
I find it extremely telling that both of the issues you linked are now included in the core language library, and what happened with left-pad will never happen again after amends were made by npm to make sure that it indeed never does. If you want to critize JavaScript you can do better with something more substantial. If anything, the speed at which problems you linked get remedied is a plus for the language. Even more so if you take into account the extremely unique position JavaScript is in where you can simply never change an API after it goes public. > The fact that there are so many abstractions that compile/transpile into javascript is also a big red flag What did you expect? JavaScript is the only language browsers natively understand. If you want to write code in your favorite programming language you will have to transpile/compile it to JS.
- rogersach 10y ago
  Javascript is the reason WebAssembly came into existence.
  - vmasto 10y ago
    That statement is highly uninformed. I would suggest starting reading from here https://github.com/WebAssembly/design/blob/master/FAQ.md#is-webassembly-trying-to-replace-javascript https://github.com/WebAssembly/design/blob/master/FAQ.md#is-...
    - rogersach 10y ago
      I never said it would replace it, I was saying that it was for those who didn't want to use javascript.
      - tracker1 10y ago
        No, it really isn't... it's for code that absolutely must perform well, without the need for browser plugin/extension installation. Gaming logic, transcoding streams, etc.
tracker1 10y ago
Aren't there a lot of languages that compile to the Java platform? Also, there are several that build for .Net as well.
- throwayedidqo 10y ago
  It's not the same. Those compile to the bytecode but not through generating code. The "transpilers" for JavaScript are glorified code generators, they don't perform most of work that true compilers do. Namely optimization and dead code elimination. The only true compiler for JS at the moment is google's Closure. Scala and the .NET family languages go straight from code to bytecode with their own compiler frontends

by cx1000 10y ago

vmasto 10y ago

I find it extremely telling that both of the issues you linked are now included in the core language library, and what happened with left-pad will never happen again after amends were made by npm to make sure that it indeed never does. If you want to critize JavaScript you can do better with something more substantial. If anything, the speed at which problems you linked get remedied is a plus for the language. Even more so if you take into account the extremely unique position JavaScript is in where you can simply never change an API after it goes public. > The fact that there are so many abstractions that compile/transpile into javascript is also a big red flag What did you expect? JavaScript is the only language browsers natively understand. If you want to write code in your favorite programming language you will have to transpile/compile it to JS.

rogersach 10y ago
Javascript is the reason WebAssembly came into existence.
- vmasto 10y ago
  That statement is highly uninformed. I would suggest starting reading from here https://github.com/WebAssembly/design/blob/master/FAQ.md#is-webassembly-trying-to-replace-javascript https://github.com/WebAssembly/design/blob/master/FAQ.md#is-...
  - rogersach 10y ago
    I never said it would replace it, I was saying that it was for those who didn't want to use javascript.
    - tracker1 10y ago
      No, it really isn't... it's for code that absolutely must perform well, without the need for browser plugin/extension installation. Gaming logic, transcoding streams, etc.

tracker1 10y ago

Aren't there a lot of languages that compile to the Java platform? Also, there are several that build for .Net as well.

throwayedidqo 10y ago
It's not the same. Those compile to the bytecode but not through generating code. The "transpilers" for JavaScript are glorified code generators, they don't perform most of work that true compilers do. Namely optimization and dead code elimination. The only true compiler for JS at the moment is google's Closure. Scala and the .NET family languages go straight from code to bytecode with their own compiler frontends