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I think javascript is a fine little language. But: I don't make my server-side language decisions based on what happens to be in the browser. To think that a

by jamwt 16y ago

I think javascript is a fine little language. But: I don't make my server-side language decisions based on what happens to be in the browser. To think that a language required for use in such a constrained environment is just _coincidentally_ also the best language to use server-side where people have been doing event-based programming for decades seems... unlikely. It would be as ridiculous as asserting that we should all use postscript in the browser because that's the standard we've been using in printers for the last 20 years. I suppose if you make the argument that browsers dictate that developers _must_ learn javascript, and therefore, with Node.js they can also program server-side without ever needing to learn a second language, that is a sound argument. I don't, however, know many good programmer that spend a career knowing exactly one language.

creationix 16y ago
I never said JavaScript is best language to use server-side. That would be insane. I'm just saying that it worked well for the browser (mostly because it was forced on us, but still) and node is an experiment to try the same thing on the server. It's a lot better than writing C, (which is what Ryan was doing before starting node) since JS has closures, anonymous functions and other functional niceties that make event based programming much easier. The fact that you can now code your server-side code in the same language and paradigm as your client-side code is a huge bonus, but was not the reason node was created. V8 is an amazing VM and it's a language that lots of talented developers know. Why not let them loose on the server and see what comes out of this talent. Given the constraint of using JavaScript on the server, node is the best solution. If you don't want that constraint, then maybe erlang or something with no-shared state is a better solution.
- frognibble 16y ago
  Javascript might not even be the best language for the browser. The browser programming model was set in stone years before significant applications were built in the browser. If we had a choice about the browser programming model, then it seems likely that better programming models would have emerged based on the experience.

by jamwt 16y ago

creationix 16y ago

I never said JavaScript is best language to use server-side. That would be insane. I'm just saying that it worked well for the browser (mostly because it was forced on us, but still) and node is an experiment to try the same thing on the server. It's a lot better than writing C, (which is what Ryan was doing before starting node) since JS has closures, anonymous functions and other functional niceties that make event based programming much easier. The fact that you can now code your server-side code in the same language and paradigm as your client-side code is a huge bonus, but was not the reason node was created. V8 is an amazing VM and it's a language that lots of talented developers know. Why not let them loose on the server and see what comes out of this talent. Given the constraint of using JavaScript on the server, node is the best solution. If you don't want that constraint, then maybe erlang or something with no-shared state is a better solution.

frognibble 16y ago
Javascript might not even be the best language for the browser. The browser programming model was set in stone years before significant applications were built in the browser. If we had a choice about the browser programming model, then it seems likely that better programming models would have emerged based on the experience.