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This is a reasonable observation, JavaScript uses a syntax derived from Algol, via C, with some language features derived from Scheme. I understand some of th
by pacaro 7y ago
This is a reasonable observation, JavaScript uses a syntax derived from Algol, via C, with some language features derived from Scheme.
I understand some of the upthread scepticism of the role that this may play in racket moving forward, but while people may have reservations about some of the Wut features in JavaScript, it has undeniably been a very successful language
- masukomi 7y agoit's been a successful language because the web is effing amazing and it's literally your only choice if you want any functionality in a web page. If the original Scheme-like plan for JS had of been used then you'd be saying exactly the same thing about a Scheme. JS didn't succeed because it was "good" in _any_ way. It succeeded because it was not horrendous and it was/is _the only choice_.
- pacaro 7y agoI mostly agree with you. I think however that it was "the only choice" because it was good enough. It's worth remembering that there was a non trivial time period in which there was a single dominant browser platform which supported alternatives: VBScript was supported through IE10, and is still available in IE11; ActiveX could be used to allow just about any scripting language. Even now it's fairly straightforward to have JavaScript be the output of a toolchain, but not necessarily the input