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I didn't prepare and to tell the truth, I was getting over a cold (which is why I was rubbing my nose so much). What helps me, beyond watching other good long-f

I didn't prepare and to tell the truth, I was getting over a cold (which is why I was rubbing my nose so much). What helps me, beyond watching other good long-form speakers in similar interviews: reading and thinking at length, using the Socratic method in my own head.

christophilus 6y ago
Loved the interview and love Brave. Keep up the good work!
cccc4alll 6y ago
I just want to say thank you for all your contributions to advancing web technologies. Javascript is still the only meaningful "Full Stack" platform and responsible for Billions of dollars in online business and Trillions of dollars in business value.
- paulryanrogers 6y ago
  Is JS really the fundamental, responsible part in all that business? Would it have been so much worse with a full page refresh per click?
  - cccc4alll 6y ago
    What would handle the click on the client browser? How would you handle all the user events in the client browser? clicks, mouse overs, selections, etc. The Javascript platform is used to capture user behavior in the most efficient manner. This is the fundamental basis for all the online business processes and resulting business value.
    - paulryanrogers 6y ago
      Before JS browsers handled clicks without any 3rd party code. They were much more predictable and easier to reason about as a user. Those clicks usually translated to HTTP calls. What is so fundamental about business processes that they can't do an extra page render and HTTP call? (I imagine there may be some, I just can't see how they are so fundamental and on the order of billions.)
      - BrendanEich 6y ago
        Hotmail, Oddpost, Gmail, Gmaps, YouTube comments, etc etc.
        paulryanrogers 6y ago
        Funny enough I hear Gmail's plain HTML version is preferable for some here on HN. Regardless I don't see how JS is fundamental to any of those services, not even Maps. Instead I suspect HTML would have become more feature rich sooner than HTML5. I also don't believe JS itself contributes significantly to the trillions of dollars involved in online business.
        BrendanEich 6y ago
        Why introduce counterfactuals? Flash existed, it had a full JS-variant language. It was taking over restaurant and other sites due to the IE monopoly stagnating HTML/CSS/JS. We don't need to appeal to an imaginary Turing-incomplete no-JS world to argue that JS didn't contribute enough. Flash was clearly the answer! Right?
        paulryanrogers 6y ago
        Turing incompetentes can be a feature IMO. Anyway, my point is that none of the interactivity as delivered by JS / ActiveX / Flash are themselves reason for all the money in online business. Before graphical browsers there were probably billions in transactions happening on computer networks. And likely would have grown to similar highs without the ability to run untrusted, 3rd party code on demand.
        BrendanEich 6y ago
        Go prove it. Meanwhile, back in reality, Flash was taking over and it did have better JS-variant, better graphics, etc. before we in the HTML5 WHATWG group got browsers upgraded. No-JS happy talk about better Turing-incomplete HTML is idle talk. Go on if you must, but I'll stop here. "I do not entertain hypotheticals. The world as it is is vexing enough." - Col. Stonehill, "True Grit"
mjgs 6y ago
There were no signs of your cold on the audio podcast version of the interview :) One issue I’ve had with Greek philosophy is that although I know there’s interesting content within the stories, it all feels very distant, I can’t pronounce many of the names, a lot of the stories don’t feel super relevant, so there isn’t much that ‘sticks’ in my head. It’s a bit like reading Shakespear, I rarely get into it, spending all my thought decrypting low level meaning/semantics, and I just never get to the interesting higher level story arcs, or when I do, my flow is too easily broken by some weird old English saying that I am unacquainted with. I guess it’s like any language, lots of practice necessary. I’ll have to take another look at the Socratic method in more detail. If it’s a technique you are using, based on your interviews that I’ve listened to, then it’s clearly beneficial.
- brailsafe 6y ago
  Sounds like there's a market for a derived work that uses contemporary rhetoric.
  - mjgs 6y ago
    Yeah I think there might be. One which I really enjoyed was: Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zen_and_the_Art_of_Motorcycle_Maintenance https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zen_and_the_Art_of_Motorcycl... I don’t know of many others like it. I’d really like to ‘get into’ the classics, but it’s like I need to onboard by reading a bunch of contemporary motorcycle style versions first, so I have some familiarity with the concepts.
    - BrendanEich 6y ago
      I read ZatAoMM as undergrad, it made a big impression. Forgot to get to it with Lex (his pre-show questions included "your top books").
      - brailsafe 6y ago
        I'm a little ways in so far, and I think—maybe unless you're a certain type of person—it's a book that you hopefully get lucky with in terms of when in your life you read it. It's a slow read, but the first few chapters have been nice so far, while some others I know have just not clicked with it.

christophilus 6y ago

Loved the interview and love Brave. Keep up the good work!

cccc4alll 6y ago

I just want to say thank you for all your contributions to advancing web technologies. Javascript is still the only meaningful "Full Stack" platform and responsible for Billions of dollars in online business and Trillions of dollars in business value.

paulryanrogers 6y ago
Is JS really the fundamental, responsible part in all that business? Would it have been so much worse with a full page refresh per click?
- cccc4alll 6y ago
  What would handle the click on the client browser? How would you handle all the user events in the client browser? clicks, mouse overs, selections, etc. The Javascript platform is used to capture user behavior in the most efficient manner. This is the fundamental basis for all the online business processes and resulting business value.
  - paulryanrogers 6y ago
    Before JS browsers handled clicks without any 3rd party code. They were much more predictable and easier to reason about as a user. Those clicks usually translated to HTTP calls. What is so fundamental about business processes that they can't do an extra page render and HTTP call? (I imagine there may be some, I just can't see how they are so fundamental and on the order of billions.)
    - BrendanEich 6y ago
      Hotmail, Oddpost, Gmail, Gmaps, YouTube comments, etc etc.
      - paulryanrogers 6y ago
        Funny enough I hear Gmail's plain HTML version is preferable for some here on HN. Regardless I don't see how JS is fundamental to any of those services, not even Maps. Instead I suspect HTML would have become more feature rich sooner than HTML5. I also don't believe JS itself contributes significantly to the trillions of dollars involved in online business.
        BrendanEich 6y ago
        Why introduce counterfactuals? Flash existed, it had a full JS-variant language. It was taking over restaurant and other sites due to the IE monopoly stagnating HTML/CSS/JS. We don't need to appeal to an imaginary Turing-incomplete no-JS world to argue that JS didn't contribute enough. Flash was clearly the answer! Right?
        paulryanrogers 6y ago
        Turing incompetentes can be a feature IMO. Anyway, my point is that none of the interactivity as delivered by JS / ActiveX / Flash are themselves reason for all the money in online business. Before graphical browsers there were probably billions in transactions happening on computer networks. And likely would have grown to similar highs without the ability to run untrusted, 3rd party code on demand.
        BrendanEich 6y ago
        Go prove it. Meanwhile, back in reality, Flash was taking over and it did have better JS-variant, better graphics, etc. before we in the HTML5 WHATWG group got browsers upgraded. No-JS happy talk about better Turing-incomplete HTML is idle talk. Go on if you must, but I'll stop here. "I do not entertain hypotheticals. The world as it is is vexing enough." - Col. Stonehill, "True Grit"

mjgs 6y ago

There were no signs of your cold on the audio podcast version of the interview :) One issue I’ve had with Greek philosophy is that although I know there’s interesting content within the stories, it all feels very distant, I can’t pronounce many of the names, a lot of the stories don’t feel super relevant, so there isn’t much that ‘sticks’ in my head. It’s a bit like reading Shakespear, I rarely get into it, spending all my thought decrypting low level meaning/semantics, and I just never get to the interesting higher level story arcs, or when I do, my flow is too easily broken by some weird old English saying that I am unacquainted with. I guess it’s like any language, lots of practice necessary. I’ll have to take another look at the Socratic method in more detail. If it’s a technique you are using, based on your interviews that I’ve listened to, then it’s clearly beneficial.

brailsafe 6y ago
Sounds like there's a market for a derived work that uses contemporary rhetoric.
- mjgs 6y ago
  Yeah I think there might be. One which I really enjoyed was: Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zen_and_the_Art_of_Motorcycle_Maintenance https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zen_and_the_Art_of_Motorcycl... I don’t know of many others like it. I’d really like to ‘get into’ the classics, but it’s like I need to onboard by reading a bunch of contemporary motorcycle style versions first, so I have some familiarity with the concepts.
  - BrendanEich 6y ago
    I read ZatAoMM as undergrad, it made a big impression. Forgot to get to it with Lex (his pre-show questions included "your top books").
    - brailsafe 6y ago
      I'm a little ways in so far, and I think—maybe unless you're a certain type of person—it's a book that you hopefully get lucky with in terms of when in your life you read it. It's a slow read, but the first few chapters have been nice so far, while some others I know have just not clicked with it.