3 ms·

Absolutely. However all these endless discussions have an implicit time frame, say 50-100 years backwards and forwards, during which time, old, well used stuff

Absolutely. However all these endless discussions have an implicit time frame, say 50-100 years backwards and forwards, during which time, old, well used stuff like HTML are expected to not suddenly remove stuff that's being used in the wild. Because web pages and simple web scripting is often done by non-professionals, who cannot be expected to follow standards processes in perpetuity to keep their pages/scripts working. They often author a few pages and move on with other things in life, which is why browsers being ultra-conservative about breaking stuff is important for the robustness of the Web.

javajosh 5y ago
Indeed, but then it becomes an argument about degree, not kind. FWIW although I'm actually a fan of decay, I think its a terrible idea to deprecate `alert()`. I get it that it's abused, but it's also an important part of learning js -- it's the easiest way to make a side-effect. (No, `console.log()` isn't easy because you have to open dev tools, which is scary and hard. A simple modal dialog is far friendlier and immediate and visceral and gives a feeling of power.)
pcl 5y ago
> Because web pages and simple web scripting is often done by non-professionals, who cannot be expected to follow standards processes in perpetuity to keep their pages/scripts working. They often author a few pages and move on with other things in life, which is why browsers being ultra-conservative about breaking stuff is important for the robustness of the Web. I am a professional software engineer at my day job, and we strive to keep our software up to date etc as the world changes. But I am also exactly this non-professional developer in my after-hours. I have written a number of little web apps that solve some small need, and I really have zero interest in maintaining them over time. When I wear that hat, I really appreciate the conservatism of most web stuff.
dmitriid 5y ago
> Because web pages and simple web scripting is often done by non-professionals, who cannot be expected to follow standards processes in perpetuity Professionals can't keep up with standards processes either. Because Chrome employs people to work on them. Who's going to pay me to keep track of literally hundreds of standards currently in development?

javajosh 5y ago

Indeed, but then it becomes an argument about degree, not kind. FWIW although I'm actually a fan of decay, I think its a terrible idea to deprecate `alert()`. I get it that it's abused, but it's also an important part of learning js -- it's the easiest way to make a side-effect. (No, `console.log()` isn't easy because you have to open dev tools, which is scary and hard. A simple modal dialog is far friendlier and immediate and visceral and gives a feeling of power.)

pcl 5y ago

> Because web pages and simple web scripting is often done by non-professionals, who cannot be expected to follow standards processes in perpetuity to keep their pages/scripts working. They often author a few pages and move on with other things in life, which is why browsers being ultra-conservative about breaking stuff is important for the robustness of the Web. I am a professional software engineer at my day job, and we strive to keep our software up to date etc as the world changes. But I am also exactly this non-professional developer in my after-hours. I have written a number of little web apps that solve some small need, and I really have zero interest in maintaining them over time. When I wear that hat, I really appreciate the conservatism of most web stuff.

dmitriid 5y ago

> Because web pages and simple web scripting is often done by non-professionals, who cannot be expected to follow standards processes in perpetuity Professionals can't keep up with standards processes either. Because Chrome employs people to work on them. Who's going to pay me to keep track of literally hundreds of standards currently in development?