3 ms·

I see some merits. I am not sure I buy using JavaScript based on performance/dev speed ratio though. Lua is even faster, lighter weight and has clean, logical s

I see some merits. I am not sure I buy using JavaScript based on performance/dev speed ratio though. Lua is even faster, lighter weight and has clean, logical semantics. I guess I'm just trying to decide if having a large talent pool and tons of modules is good enough.

cookiecaper 9y ago
I would watch it with that "large talent pool". As is typical in the language du jour, there are tons of worthless imposters going around selling Node.js skills. However, it's even worse in the case of JavaScript because since it uses the "same language", some people assume that light front-end scripting qualifies as real backend development experience. "Tons of modules" is also a misnomer, because a much larger than normal portion of these are low-quality, small, and/or poorly maintained. Just the way it goes in the age of GitHub, where everyone wants a badge of honor in their repo list.
- porker 9y ago
  > there are tons of worthless imposters going around selling Node.js skills. However, it's even worse in the case of JavaScript because since it uses the "same language", some people assume that light front-end scripting qualifies as real backend development experience. Seconded. I'm working for a company building an Ionic app, and they hired two junior programmers with "angular experience" (both of whom had built angular apps before) to be the developers on the project. I'd used KnockoutJS but never ES6, Angular (1 or 2), TypeScript, written a mobile app, plus the RxJS concept was new to me, as was thinking asynchronously (I told them I wasn't a good fit for the project). Yet while the developers have struggled to do their work and the schedule has slipped, I've been able to pick up the concepts, write half the app and solve the juniors' problems despite my unfamiliarity with it all. Glad to see nearly 20 years' experience programming makes a difference, even though none of it was with today's "hot" technologies.
  - mgkimsal 9y ago
    similar experience with ionic. yeah, I don't know 'angular' (well, didn't) but have still been able to be very productive very quickly (20+ years as well). and... the 'impostor' thing... quite true. easier for these people to slip in to larger companies, I think, but it's a problem all around. I would expect someone with 20+ years of experience to be able to help juniors troubleshoot in any language/stack, though, whether they expect it or not. :)
    - porker 9y ago
      > I would expect someone with 20+ years of experience to be able to help juniors troubleshoot in any language/stack, though, whether they expect it or not. :) I can with one, and have cracked his management style too, so he's gone from being unproductive and the butt of office gossip to meeting schedules. The other is new to this country, doesn't speak much English (e.g. not enough to ask questions) and understands little English too. At a loss for how to proceed...
- taurath 9y ago
  I've had some trouble finding explicit node backend jobs, as someone who'd consider themselves a relative specialist in it. Most places want a full stack developer well versed in common frontend frameworks and maybe a tiny bit of services on the backend. Most backend focused jobs (rightly, probably) focus on more traditional stacks or go. There's amazing things one can do very quickly with node exp (serverless/Faas services for one) but I've been struggling to find positions reliably.
  - Can_Not 9y ago
    Same, almost all JavaScript job postings are front end only. It's quite a shame.

cookiecaper 9y ago

I would watch it with that "large talent pool". As is typical in the language du jour, there are tons of worthless imposters going around selling Node.js skills. However, it's even worse in the case of JavaScript because since it uses the "same language", some people assume that light front-end scripting qualifies as real backend development experience. "Tons of modules" is also a misnomer, because a much larger than normal portion of these are low-quality, small, and/or poorly maintained. Just the way it goes in the age of GitHub, where everyone wants a badge of honor in their repo list.

porker 9y ago
> there are tons of worthless imposters going around selling Node.js skills. However, it's even worse in the case of JavaScript because since it uses the "same language", some people assume that light front-end scripting qualifies as real backend development experience. Seconded. I'm working for a company building an Ionic app, and they hired two junior programmers with "angular experience" (both of whom had built angular apps before) to be the developers on the project. I'd used KnockoutJS but never ES6, Angular (1 or 2), TypeScript, written a mobile app, plus the RxJS concept was new to me, as was thinking asynchronously (I told them I wasn't a good fit for the project). Yet while the developers have struggled to do their work and the schedule has slipped, I've been able to pick up the concepts, write half the app and solve the juniors' problems despite my unfamiliarity with it all. Glad to see nearly 20 years' experience programming makes a difference, even though none of it was with today's "hot" technologies.
- mgkimsal 9y ago
  similar experience with ionic. yeah, I don't know 'angular' (well, didn't) but have still been able to be very productive very quickly (20+ years as well). and... the 'impostor' thing... quite true. easier for these people to slip in to larger companies, I think, but it's a problem all around. I would expect someone with 20+ years of experience to be able to help juniors troubleshoot in any language/stack, though, whether they expect it or not. :)
  - porker 9y ago
    > I would expect someone with 20+ years of experience to be able to help juniors troubleshoot in any language/stack, though, whether they expect it or not. :) I can with one, and have cracked his management style too, so he's gone from being unproductive and the butt of office gossip to meeting schedules. The other is new to this country, doesn't speak much English (e.g. not enough to ask questions) and understands little English too. At a loss for how to proceed...
taurath 9y ago
I've had some trouble finding explicit node backend jobs, as someone who'd consider themselves a relative specialist in it. Most places want a full stack developer well versed in common frontend frameworks and maybe a tiny bit of services on the backend. Most backend focused jobs (rightly, probably) focus on more traditional stacks or go. There's amazing things one can do very quickly with node exp (serverless/Faas services for one) but I've been struggling to find positions reliably.
- Can_Not 9y ago
  Same, almost all JavaScript job postings are front end only. It's quite a shame.