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You can write JavaScript via Typescript, and you now have one of the best and most popular languages there is (including sum types). There are still a lot of wa

You can write JavaScript via Typescript, and you now have one of the best and most popular languages there is (including sum types). There are still a lot of warts, but it’s actually a really nice language IMO.

cies 5y ago
Have you seen ReScript and/or ReasonML? They are much nicer IHMO, but, yes, not as popular.
- christophilus 5y ago
  I've played with them quite a bit from the first time they were mentioned on HN. I really like OCaml. But the tooling and ergonomics are heavily in TypeScript's favor at this point, and at least for me, that makes a bit difference in day-to-day work. Anyway, my favorite of that variety of languages is PureScript. It's almost perfect.
  - cies 5y ago
    I wholly agree about PureScript. Elm's also nice. I like the fact that it is a little dumb down (same could be said for early Java and Go), it creates code everyone can read. While it is still very Haskelly in day-to-day practice. In fact I'd say PureScript and Elm are stronger typed than Haskell (as e.g. `head` in Elm evals to a Maybe).
- egeozcan 5y ago
  Typescript hits that sweet spot of popularity/portability/type-safety, and although ReasonML is superior in nearly any technical criteria imaginable, I still reach to TS when I'm starting new.
nicoburns 5y ago
No good backend frameworks comparable to Rails/Laravel/Django in JavaScript though (and I say this as someone who works with JS backends in my day job).
- rd07 5y ago
  There is AdonisJS, a JS framework inspired by Laravel. I don't know if it has 1:1 feature comparison with Laravel, but for someone who uses Laravel daily like me, it seems nice.
phphphphp 5y ago
I like TypeScript as a language to write, but find the compilation process to be almost impossible to tolerate. Every time I return to an old project and try to compile it again, something is broken: from a dependency deciding to change their own compilation process for one incompatible with mine, to some deep dependency of my own compilation process changing which conflicts with some other part of my process. I spend more time on my project's compilation process than the project itself: something that is only true of TypeScript. Things are improving as more and more "batteries included" projects are launched, and it's better today than it was a year ago, so I'm happy about the positive change and I am optimistic about the future, but right now I can't begin to imagine labelling TypeScript as even close to being one of the "best" languages, because delivering software with it is a nightmare. TypeScript is great to write but hell to turn into JavaScript.

cies 5y ago

Have you seen ReScript and/or ReasonML? They are much nicer IHMO, but, yes, not as popular.

christophilus 5y ago
I've played with them quite a bit from the first time they were mentioned on HN. I really like OCaml. But the tooling and ergonomics are heavily in TypeScript's favor at this point, and at least for me, that makes a bit difference in day-to-day work. Anyway, my favorite of that variety of languages is PureScript. It's almost perfect.
- cies 5y ago
  I wholly agree about PureScript. Elm's also nice. I like the fact that it is a little dumb down (same could be said for early Java and Go), it creates code everyone can read. While it is still very Haskelly in day-to-day practice. In fact I'd say PureScript and Elm are stronger typed than Haskell (as e.g. `head` in Elm evals to a Maybe).
egeozcan 5y ago
Typescript hits that sweet spot of popularity/portability/type-safety, and although ReasonML is superior in nearly any technical criteria imaginable, I still reach to TS when I'm starting new.

nicoburns 5y ago

No good backend frameworks comparable to Rails/Laravel/Django in JavaScript though (and I say this as someone who works with JS backends in my day job).

rd07 5y ago
There is AdonisJS, a JS framework inspired by Laravel. I don't know if it has 1:1 feature comparison with Laravel, but for someone who uses Laravel daily like me, it seems nice.

phphphphp 5y ago

I like TypeScript as a language to write, but find the compilation process to be almost impossible to tolerate. Every time I return to an old project and try to compile it again, something is broken: from a dependency deciding to change their own compilation process for one incompatible with mine, to some deep dependency of my own compilation process changing which conflicts with some other part of my process. I spend more time on my project's compilation process than the project itself: something that is only true of TypeScript. Things are improving as more and more "batteries included" projects are launched, and it's better today than it was a year ago, so I'm happy about the positive change and I am optimistic about the future, but right now I can't begin to imagine labelling TypeScript as even close to being one of the "best" languages, because delivering software with it is a nightmare. TypeScript is great to write but hell to turn into JavaScript.