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Unfortunate they had to exclude Javascript. I understand why they chose to do that, but that's a HUGE chunk of data that's been pretty much randomly ignored. So

Unfortunate they had to exclude Javascript. I understand why they chose to do that, but that's a HUGE chunk of data that's been pretty much randomly ignored. So can this really be considered a fair analysis given that?

thehardsphere 9y ago
I think so. I mean, aside from Node based projects, how many people are really doing pure-javascript apps? The pattern is typically JS on the front and something else on the back. I guess if you can split out Node, React Native, and whatever other thing people are doing with Javascript that is pure Javascript, that would be a little bit more fair.
- ricardobeat 9y ago
  Why would exclude nodejs based projects? It's becoming the most common server type across the top 500 sites, and has an estimated 4+ million users. Don't forget Electron desktop apps, also pure js - the framework itself has 100-200k monthly downloads.
  - Zyst 9y ago
    If you read the article: It's because they couldn't tell apart Node and JavaScript projects. However, I do disagree about not including JS.
    - deleted 9y ago
      [deleted]
    - ricardobeat 9y ago
      If you read the parent comment, you'll find the question "how many people are really doing pure-javascript apps?"
  - thehardsphere 9y ago
    I am not saying that I would exclude Node projects; I am saying I would exclude all Javascript projects that are not Node. Or React Native. Or Electron. Or whatever is used to create a purely Javascript app instead of one that only uses Javascript because a portion of the app's user interface exists at runtime in the context of a web browser.
dirkc 9y ago
If you see JavaScript as the clear leader, then this is probably a fair evaluation of what's left over. According to the stack overflow survey this year, JavaScript is at the top of the list of programming languages https://insights.stackoverflow.com/survey/2017#technology-programming-languages https://insights.stackoverflow.com/survey/2017#technology-pr...
- bluejekyll 9y ago
  Not by choice... and I think that's the intended point of this analysis, what languages are people moving to from. When WebAssembly stabilizes, it would be interesting to redo this analysis and see if JS will remain king.
haburka 9y ago
No one has a choice with JavaScript. Theoretically you could go native or transpile but it's very rare. Therefore, if you included it, the data wouldn't lead to meaningful conclusions. I feel like this was pretty obvious from the article and that the explanation was enough. For example, substituting node for js seemed to work well enough.
- remline 9y ago
  No one really has a choice with C, but its tally was very interesting.. I think there is a lot more vertical movement and the horizontal stuff might be a sideshow without considering overlap or experience with C or JavaScript as significant in how one transitions between purely competing languages. But JavaScript's real problem for the analysis might be that its competition is largely excluded since the walled garden apps rarely have related code on GitHub, even if their language is present.
  - freehunter 9y ago
    There's a huge choice for C. For a lot of uses, you can use C++, Go, Java, Rust, or a few other systems languages. The only thing that needs C is some very niche embedded stuff, or the Linux kernel (also niche).
    - bluejekyll 9y ago
      All the major Unix kernels are in C. If it continues this trend, it seems clear that new kernels in new languages will be needed, or existing kernels will need to be ported to other languages. A memory safe one would be cool...
      - muricula 9y ago
        Or maybe C is uniquely suited to the task of writing a kernel, after all that's what it was designed for.
        9y ago

thehardsphere 9y ago

I think so. I mean, aside from Node based projects, how many people are really doing pure-javascript apps? The pattern is typically JS on the front and something else on the back. I guess if you can split out Node, React Native, and whatever other thing people are doing with Javascript that is pure Javascript, that would be a little bit more fair.

ricardobeat 9y ago
Why would exclude nodejs based projects? It's becoming the most common server type across the top 500 sites, and has an estimated 4+ million users. Don't forget Electron desktop apps, also pure js - the framework itself has 100-200k monthly downloads.
- Zyst 9y ago
  If you read the article: It's because they couldn't tell apart Node and JavaScript projects. However, I do disagree about not including JS.
  - deleted 9y ago
    [deleted]
  - ricardobeat 9y ago
    If you read the parent comment, you'll find the question "how many people are really doing pure-javascript apps?"
- thehardsphere 9y ago
  I am not saying that I would exclude Node projects; I am saying I would exclude all Javascript projects that are not Node. Or React Native. Or Electron. Or whatever is used to create a purely Javascript app instead of one that only uses Javascript because a portion of the app's user interface exists at runtime in the context of a web browser.

dirkc 9y ago

If you see JavaScript as the clear leader, then this is probably a fair evaluation of what's left over. According to the stack overflow survey this year, JavaScript is at the top of the list of programming languages https://insights.stackoverflow.com/survey/2017#technology-programming-languages https://insights.stackoverflow.com/survey/2017#technology-pr...

bluejekyll 9y ago
Not by choice... and I think that's the intended point of this analysis, what languages are people moving to from. When WebAssembly stabilizes, it would be interesting to redo this analysis and see if JS will remain king.

haburka 9y ago

No one has a choice with JavaScript. Theoretically you could go native or transpile but it's very rare. Therefore, if you included it, the data wouldn't lead to meaningful conclusions. I feel like this was pretty obvious from the article and that the explanation was enough. For example, substituting node for js seemed to work well enough.

remline 9y ago
No one really has a choice with C, but its tally was very interesting.. I think there is a lot more vertical movement and the horizontal stuff might be a sideshow without considering overlap or experience with C or JavaScript as significant in how one transitions between purely competing languages. But JavaScript's real problem for the analysis might be that its competition is largely excluded since the walled garden apps rarely have related code on GitHub, even if their language is present.
- freehunter 9y ago
  There's a huge choice for C. For a lot of uses, you can use C++, Go, Java, Rust, or a few other systems languages. The only thing that needs C is some very niche embedded stuff, or the Linux kernel (also niche).
  - bluejekyll 9y ago
    All the major Unix kernels are in C. If it continues this trend, it seems clear that new kernels in new languages will be needed, or existing kernels will need to be ported to other languages. A memory safe one would be cool...
    - muricula 9y ago
      Or maybe C is uniquely suited to the task of writing a kernel, after all that's what it was designed for.
      - 9y ago