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I get the sense that ReasonML exists because some smart people see "JavaScript developer" as a pejorative. While its abstractions make plenty of sense, its dis

by muglug 7y ago

I get the sense that ReasonML exists because some smart people see "JavaScript developer" as a pejorative. While its abstractions make plenty of sense, its distance from JavaScript makes it incredibly unappealing to the average developer.

azangru 7y ago
Why should we concern ourselves with psychological processes of the mythical average developer? The question is, whether this language is appealing to you.
- muglug 7y ago
  I suppose if you're working on a small pet project that nobody else is going to see. If you're working on something with a bunch of other people you're likely to care more about what the mythical average dev thinks.
a0 7y ago
This kind of comments make me really sad. Most ReasonML developers are actually "JavaScript developers". ReasonML was specifically designed for JavaScript developers. Being JavaScript-friendly is in it's DNA really. I even see ReasonML a language that was specifically designed to work with React. I can understand why you would feel this way though. I think the main problem is that ReasonML introduces new concepts that simply do not exist in JavaScript. Learning those concepts is hard. But if it wasn't hard, would you be learning anything or just writing JavaScript in a slightly different way? Are there any specific examples of things that look too "distant" from JavaScript? I'll finish this by saying that ReasonML will make you a better JavaScript developer. As will probably learning any other language that challenges the way you think.
- muglug 7y ago
  > I'll finish this by saying that ReasonML will make you a better JavaScript developer. As will probably learning any other language that challenges the way you think. I wholeheartedly agree! But a lot of people don't want to be challenged by the language when there are already plenty of other challenges in their personal and professional lives. With TypeScript you don't need to think half as much, and the thing your boss generally cares about (whether the feature shipped) gets done.
  - yawaramin 7y ago
    > With TypeScript you don't need to think half as much That seems a bit dangerous, to be honest. TypeScript has an unsound type system. If you don't think carefully, you might end up shipping runtime type errors.

by muglug 7y ago

azangru 7y ago

Why should we concern ourselves with psychological processes of the mythical average developer? The question is, whether this language is appealing to you.

muglug 7y ago
I suppose if you're working on a small pet project that nobody else is going to see. If you're working on something with a bunch of other people you're likely to care more about what the mythical average dev thinks.

a0 7y ago

This kind of comments make me really sad. Most ReasonML developers are actually "JavaScript developers". ReasonML was specifically designed for JavaScript developers. Being JavaScript-friendly is in it's DNA really. I even see ReasonML a language that was specifically designed to work with React. I can understand why you would feel this way though. I think the main problem is that ReasonML introduces new concepts that simply do not exist in JavaScript. Learning those concepts is hard. But if it wasn't hard, would you be learning anything or just writing JavaScript in a slightly different way? Are there any specific examples of things that look too "distant" from JavaScript? I'll finish this by saying that ReasonML will make you a better JavaScript developer. As will probably learning any other language that challenges the way you think.

muglug 7y ago
> I'll finish this by saying that ReasonML will make you a better JavaScript developer. As will probably learning any other language that challenges the way you think. I wholeheartedly agree! But a lot of people don't want to be challenged by the language when there are already plenty of other challenges in their personal and professional lives. With TypeScript you don't need to think half as much, and the thing your boss generally cares about (whether the feature shipped) gets done.
- yawaramin 7y ago
  > With TypeScript you don't need to think half as much That seems a bit dangerous, to be honest. TypeScript has an unsound type system. If you don't think carefully, you might end up shipping runtime type errors.