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> apt for server side programming Except what part is that? Having to download 4 or 5 projects to build, compile, and run 'basic' pages is too much bloat; not

by cremp 8y ago

> apt for server side programming Except what part is that? Having to download 4 or 5 projects to build, compile, and run 'basic' pages is too much bloat; not to mention the dependency hell. It more and more seems to me like node was made 'because we can' instead of providing something. This can be seen with all of the cruft required; a lot made as an after-thought. Package manager, npm; which itself has proven that... it wasn't designed too well. The reliance of it creates the cruft. Add in the fact that a web server shouldn't be event driven. I (personally) haven't seen any other language do an event-driven web; and I'd say, for good reason (callback hell.) Javascript itself is okay because it's a requirement today for web pages to the average joe. However, if the Javascript foundation is merging; it'll their motto to use it (Node.)

hajile 8y ago
I've used ruby, java, python, etc and all of them require a decent amount of dependencies to get a server up and running. Likewise, dependency hell is an issue in lots of languages. The company I'm with has legacy dependency issues with their Java. They have pip dependency issues with Python. The front-end testers learned JS and left ruby simply because they couldn't get their tooling installed on another machine without a couple days work (turned out JS was easier to maintain and faster too). Yarn exists and solves the major issues NPM had (though they seem to be improving as well). EventMachine or twisted are two event-based servers (ruby and python) with some level of popularity. The big issue with them is every library you reach for has blocking code everywhere, so actually making it work is painful. Promises eliminated callback hell years ago for most of us. Koa/generators eliminate most of the rest as well. On the flip side, JS as a language is rapidly evolving and node is a serious consideration when adding new features. Node as an implementation is extremely fast and I doubt that there's another scripting language that comes anywhere close to its combination of performance, size, memory usage, startup time, etc.

by cremp 8y ago

hajile 8y ago

I've used ruby, java, python, etc and all of them require a decent amount of dependencies to get a server up and running. Likewise, dependency hell is an issue in lots of languages. The company I'm with has legacy dependency issues with their Java. They have pip dependency issues with Python. The front-end testers learned JS and left ruby simply because they couldn't get their tooling installed on another machine without a couple days work (turned out JS was easier to maintain and faster too). Yarn exists and solves the major issues NPM had (though they seem to be improving as well). EventMachine or twisted are two event-based servers (ruby and python) with some level of popularity. The big issue with them is every library you reach for has blocking code everywhere, so actually making it work is painful. Promises eliminated callback hell years ago for most of us. Koa/generators eliminate most of the rest as well. On the flip side, JS as a language is rapidly evolving and node is a serious consideration when adding new features. Node as an implementation is extremely fast and I doubt that there's another scripting language that comes anywhere close to its combination of performance, size, memory usage, startup time, etc.