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The real question is why anyone takes obviously wrong artifacts in JavaScript like omitting semicolons and flagrantly wrongly designed this binding seriously. T

The real question is why anyone takes obviously wrong artifacts in JavaScript like omitting semicolons and flagrantly wrongly designed this binding seriously. This isn't an issue of best practices or personal preferences, it's aspects of a ubiquitous language that are simply and unequivocally broken.

tikhonj 15y ago
This just begs the question: they're broken, because they're broken? And anybody who thinks the features neat is wrong? The reason people talk about omitting semi-colons in JavaScript is because they don't think that feature is unusable--they clearly think it's better than adding semi-colons everywhere! When reasonable people disagree like that, the situation is rarely simple and clear-cut. Now, perhaps you could reasonably argue that the behavior is unfortunate. But you can also reasonably argue the converse. And, most importantly, it isn't immediately clear who is correct.
- JamisonM 15y ago
  It has always been a mystery to me that reasonable people somehow think it is better to omit the semicolons where you can instead of just being 100% consistent by using them to terminate every statement. I have always thought that computers, programming, logic were always all about favouring consistency and simplicity. My mind boggles that otherwise talented people do not see the value in using simpler rules when they work and avoiding exploiting complex things that seem to offer somewhere between little and no extra value. I guess I just don't get it because it has always seemed precisely a simple and clear-cut thing to me but somehow it is not.
- madhadron 15y ago
  Yes, they're wrong, because they make certain classes of errors impossible to catch automatically, and place that much heavier a burden on me to use the tool. You can do what you like in private, but forcing me to waste my mental energy because it makes you feel good about yourself to be able to manage lots of complicated trivia? Should I be accepting if you wanted me to use a hammer with a spike on the side of the handle?

tikhonj 15y ago

This just begs the question: they're broken, because they're broken? And anybody who thinks the features neat is wrong? The reason people talk about omitting semi-colons in JavaScript is because they don't think that feature is unusable--they clearly think it's better than adding semi-colons everywhere! When reasonable people disagree like that, the situation is rarely simple and clear-cut. Now, perhaps you could reasonably argue that the behavior is unfortunate. But you can also reasonably argue the converse. And, most importantly, it isn't immediately clear who is correct.

JamisonM 15y ago
It has always been a mystery to me that reasonable people somehow think it is better to omit the semicolons where you can instead of just being 100% consistent by using them to terminate every statement. I have always thought that computers, programming, logic were always all about favouring consistency and simplicity. My mind boggles that otherwise talented people do not see the value in using simpler rules when they work and avoiding exploiting complex things that seem to offer somewhere between little and no extra value. I guess I just don't get it because it has always seemed precisely a simple and clear-cut thing to me but somehow it is not.
madhadron 15y ago
Yes, they're wrong, because they make certain classes of errors impossible to catch automatically, and place that much heavier a burden on me to use the tool. You can do what you like in private, but forcing me to waste my mental energy because it makes you feel good about yourself to be able to manage lots of complicated trivia? Should I be accepting if you wanted me to use a hammer with a spike on the side of the handle?