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Ask HN: Have we hit peak JavaScript?
There was a peak .NET, peak Java, and peak C++. JS adoption has exploded, but the language is nearly mature (with TS unlikely to be merged into TC-39 except as optional extra.) Web-Assembly, Rust, Go, are all new and, as much as I enjoy JS, better languages. Not to mention indomitable C.
Is JS as universal platform an idea whose time has come, or whose time has passed?
- Someone1234 8y agoDepends if you define WebAssembly as "JavaScript" or not. Have the days of hand-writing raw JS peaked? More than likely. Between TypeScript and other transcompilers, and the impending threat of WebAssembly being able to consume other languages and output browser executable code. A project like Microsoft's Blazor[0] might ultimately fail, but that type of compiled from language to WebAssembly likely is the future. But if you define WebAssembly as "JavaScript" then I guess we haven't hit peak JS. [0] https://github.com/aspnet/Blazor https://github.com/aspnet/Blazor
- 11235813213455 8y ago> raw JS that makes me laugh It's like saying "raw Python"
- chacham15 8y agoUntil WebAssembly can manipulate DOM, its unlikely to gain any significant amount of adoption. Currently that feature is still in the proposal phase (https://github.com/WebAssembly/design/issues/1079 https://github.com/WebAssembly/design/issues/1079) so it seems quite a long way off.
- darpa_escapee 8y agoCross-language compilation to web assembly has the problem of needing to distribute runtimes for each language. In that aspect, JavaScript will still be the dominant scripting language of the web.
- velmu 8y agoJavaScript has lost it's monopoly for browsers: https://medium.com/@velmu/javascript-s-heyday-as-the-only-browser-language-is-over-8d3c0c995309?source=linkShare-87350e1fddab-1532798690 https://medium.com/@velmu/javascript-s-heyday-as-the-only-br...
- wheelerwj 8y agolol.
- skrebbel 8y agoI'd argue that in more ways than not, TypeScript is JavaScript. They're following the spec (plus some proposals, admittedly) precisely. Of course there's some practical differences between writing TS and JS, in terms of stuff like tool support, but it's really the same language. Any architecture or algorithm you'd design in either would turn out the same. Not similar, the same.
- 52-6F-62 8y agoI have to preface by asking if you think C#/.NET and C++ are examples of whose time has passed. Personally, being an admittedly big fan of C, I still love working with JavaScript — and I love working with TypeScript on top of that even more. It's not the end of the world, though. It's one solution to a selection of problems. Just the same, there are other solutions, and yet other problems that JavaScript can't solve. I don't really think it's a question of "peak JavaScript" yet. I think the question is irrelevant, really. On another note entirely, I've toyed with Go, but I don't care about it. I don't find the learning or development curve any quicker than C for me. C's very pragmatic (admittedly, potentially to a fault)— Go seems to further obfuscate things. I welcome attempts at conversion, however— it's possible I'm missing something there. Rust seems to introduce a novel approach that I can appreciate, but I haven't done a deep dive. I haven't properly invested in Web Assembly, either, but that's in part due to the fact that I haven't identified an imminent need to do so. Sometime soon, probably.
- GordonS 8y agoWith .NET Core, .NET is seeing more cross-platform adoption - I'm not sure how you could possibly conclude, now of all times, that the time of C# or .NET has passed?
- ronilan 8y agoNo peak JS in sight. But, on a historical note, 2018 will probably go down as the year of “peak WordPress”. All “patch” releases, nothing else: https://wordpress.org/news/category/releases/ https://wordpress.org/news/category/releases/
- skylark 8y agoI think the excitement around using JavaScript as a server runtime has peaked. If you search for node/express on Google Trends, you'll notice the interest leveled off about a year ago. This matches up with my own personal experience - engineers seem more willing to weigh the tradeoffs associated with using JavaScript on the server vs. using other frameworks like Flask, Ruby on Rails, Django, or SAAS offerings like Firebase and Google App Engine. There's a lot more maturity there than there was a few years ago. I doubt that JavaScript on the web client is going anywhere. While wasm is interesting, it's still not really ready for prime time. These days if you're a frontend web engineer, you're forced to use JavaScript or a transpiles-to-JavaScript language. The interest in JavaScript as a mobile runtime is still exploding. Searches for React Native have only been increasing over the years and shows no signs of slowing down. Compare this to iOS swift, which is trending down in popularity. If you're wondering whether the JavaScript ecosystem is still a useful one to learn, I wholeheartedly believe it's not going anywhere for the foreseeable future.
- andyidsinga 8y agoI need to ask another couple more questions for which I'll take a try at some answers: #1 Are you asking because you're deciding if you should invest time it from a general "keeping up with technology perspective" ? or.. #2 Do you have a specific project in mind, and are worried that other technologies may have eclipsed js, and therefore if you invest in js you would be wasting time and money? or.. #3 Do you want to impress someone, and want to do it in a tech that will garner a certain wow factor. If #1, I don't have a clear and concise answer to this -- its effectively FOMO. I've had this urge in the past; I think what's embedded in the original question is you don't want to use js becuase you already have a perception that it's peaked. So just pick something else like Webassembly, Rust, Go or another framework de-jour and enjoy the exercise. Just try to keep the enjoyment level above the FOMO level :) If #2, I would say js has not peaked ..just like many languages could meet the needs of a specific project. Look at your tools, abilities, team composition (if you have one) and decide on a set of tools that will allow you to meet your project objectives in a short amount of time (a la lean methods) If #3, pick something exotic to your audience ..and then be able to describe the ups/downs in great detail after you wow them ..or fail to wow them with a big catastrophic fail ..either way, focus on the pyrotechnic show :) PS. there is no universal platform and NEVER will be :) :) :) (edit typos/formatting)
- lupinglade 8y agoLet's hope so!