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Modern JS is a passable language only after a tremendous amount of time and effort was invested to retrofit it as such. For all of the purported isomorphic bene

Modern JS is a passable language only after a tremendous amount of time and effort was invested to retrofit it as such. For all of the purported isomorphic benefits, I still don't know why anyone would choose to use it outside of being forced to in browsers

thecopy 3y ago
I don't really mind that "a tremendous amount of time and effort was invested" into JS. It works great for me and my team and we are hugely productive using it. That why. It works and we deliver a lot of value.
- nitwit005 3y ago
  You don't mind, because someone else spent the money. The people signing the checks probably did care.
- Mystery-Machine 3y ago
  It works great for you because you haven't seen better. Which other languages do you have more than 1 year of professional experience with? May I answer that for you? None. Just because you've just discovered a knife, doesn't mean it's the best tool to eat the soup with.
djbusby 3y ago
All the "good" languages have tremendous effort - it's how they get good. Nothing starts great...it's a journey. We've been watching the sausage being made.
- gowld 3y ago
  Most languages were OK and got enhancements, JS was terrible and got repaired. Python, for example, got a lot better a lot faster than JS did.
- Mystery-Machine 3y ago
  Just because "it's a journey" and we invested tremendous effort, doesn't mean it's suddenly great. It's a terrible language with many illnesses, even today's modern version, because it's kept its diseases from the past. It surely is lightyears better than what it used to be, but it's still a pile of turd IMO (I work with JS every day).
londons_explore 3y ago
Javascript, like python, was "simple yet flexible". Thats what made them successful. When a language is successful, people start to bolt on extra bits of syntax and features (async, prototypes/classes, lambdas, etc). Eventually it is no longer simple, and the learning curve gets steeper for new users. Someone comes up with a new simple yet flexible language, all the new users start with that instead, and the cycle repeats. BASIC/visual basic/VB.net went through that cycle in the 90's. C then C++ went through that in the 2010's. Python/Javascript is going through that now. Go is about to go through the same.
- chaxor 3y ago
  Go was trashed just about the time they added telemetry to it inherently.
  - Yasuraka 3y ago
    You mean when they added the plan to add opt-in telemetry?
jonny_eh 3y ago
> a tremendous amount of time and effort was invested to retrofit it as such Great things require tremendous effort and even time.
- numbsafari 3y ago
  That’s why git and JS don’t really belong on this list without a massive asterisk. It’s not like JS you use today is the same as the one that took “10 days”. Same goes for git.
  - falcor84 3y ago
    Nevertheless, there's something amazing about being able to release the first version of something so world-changing so quickly.

thecopy 3y ago

I don't really mind that "a tremendous amount of time and effort was invested" into JS. It works great for me and my team and we are hugely productive using it. That why. It works and we deliver a lot of value.

nitwit005 3y ago
You don't mind, because someone else spent the money. The people signing the checks probably did care.
Mystery-Machine 3y ago
It works great for you because you haven't seen better. Which other languages do you have more than 1 year of professional experience with? May I answer that for you? None. Just because you've just discovered a knife, doesn't mean it's the best tool to eat the soup with.

djbusby 3y ago

All the "good" languages have tremendous effort - it's how they get good. Nothing starts great...it's a journey. We've been watching the sausage being made.

gowld 3y ago
Most languages were OK and got enhancements, JS was terrible and got repaired. Python, for example, got a lot better a lot faster than JS did.
Mystery-Machine 3y ago
Just because "it's a journey" and we invested tremendous effort, doesn't mean it's suddenly great. It's a terrible language with many illnesses, even today's modern version, because it's kept its diseases from the past. It surely is lightyears better than what it used to be, but it's still a pile of turd IMO (I work with JS every day).

londons_explore 3y ago

Javascript, like python, was "simple yet flexible". Thats what made them successful. When a language is successful, people start to bolt on extra bits of syntax and features (async, prototypes/classes, lambdas, etc). Eventually it is no longer simple, and the learning curve gets steeper for new users. Someone comes up with a new simple yet flexible language, all the new users start with that instead, and the cycle repeats. BASIC/visual basic/VB.net went through that cycle in the 90's. C then C++ went through that in the 2010's. Python/Javascript is going through that now. Go is about to go through the same.

chaxor 3y ago
Go was trashed just about the time they added telemetry to it inherently.
- Yasuraka 3y ago
  You mean when they added the plan to add opt-in telemetry?

jonny_eh 3y ago

> a tremendous amount of time and effort was invested to retrofit it as such Great things require tremendous effort and even time.

numbsafari 3y ago
That’s why git and JS don’t really belong on this list without a massive asterisk. It’s not like JS you use today is the same as the one that took “10 days”. Same goes for git.
- falcor84 3y ago
  Nevertheless, there's something amazing about being able to release the first version of something so world-changing so quickly.