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I know this is probably hugely unpopular here, but I really wish coffeescript would go away, but perhaps some of it's best features get integrated into the next

I know this is probably hugely unpopular here, but I really wish coffeescript would go away, but perhaps some of it's best features get integrated into the next version if JavaScript.

niggler 14y ago
Do you dislike the language itself (like in the criticism of http://blog.izs.me/post/10213512387/javascript-is-not-web-assembly http://blog.izs.me/post/10213512387/javascript-is-not-web-as...) or the community?
- jakejake 14y ago
  I don't really know much about the coffeescript community, although being totally honest, as a detached observer I do get a whiff of a "chip on the shoulder" kinda attitude. Perhaps no different from any language though. I use Backbone.js quite a lot, though, so I suppose you could say I am a fan of Jeremy Ashkenas' work, even though I don't like coffeescript. It doesn't solve anything for me - it just makes things a little different without offering any major benefit for me. The article you linked to was an interesting read, I hadn't really thought about it enough to put it into words. I don't really like being a naysayer about technology or sticking my head in the sand. I think the best parts of coffeescript will eventually make their way into Javascript and then coffeescript won't be necessary anymore (unless it also continues to evolve). In which case, browser support for it seems unnecessary to me. Or, perhaps it'll become a first class language in the browser and then in two years we'll have some other language that compiles to coffeescript...? It seems ridiculous to me, but I don't see why that wouldn't happen.
  - jashkenas 14y ago
    > I think the best parts of coffeescript will eventually make > their way into Javascript and then coffeescript won't be > necessary anymore [...] For what it's worth, that also sounds just fine to me ;)
    - jakejake 14y ago
      hehe, love HN!
beatboxrevival 14y ago
If you don't like it, don't use it. Why is that so difficult? Troll elsewhere.
camus 14y ago
Well , coffee-script exists because it brings some choice to front-end scripting. If javascript was good there would be no need for all these langages that compiles down to javascript. Anyway, i did not not the "then" trick with classes , like new class then constructor:-> @param="something
- JuDue 14y ago
  I like Javascript. It took me some time to fully understand it, but it is rewarding. Coffeescript feels to me like the icing on the cake for anyone who understands what the resulting JS will function like.
epidemian 14y ago
Even if you don't like CoffeeScript, i think you should take a moment to consider the value of this tool: it integrates a language that is not natively supported by browsers into the REPL of the browsers themselves, letting you have awesome interaction with the webpage in that foreign language. These are exactly the kind of things we need to make using other languages than JS for front-end web development less painful.
- jakejake 14y ago
  That's a valid point. Though I wonder if it really is a step in that direction, or if it will only be relevant for languages that compile down to Javascript?

I know this is probably hugely unpopular here, but I really wish coffeescript would go away, but perhaps some of it's best features get integrated into the next version if JavaScript.

niggler 14y ago

Do you dislike the language itself (like in the criticism of http://blog.izs.me/post/10213512387/javascript-is-not-web-assembly http://blog.izs.me/post/10213512387/javascript-is-not-web-as...) or the community?

jakejake 14y ago
I don't really know much about the coffeescript community, although being totally honest, as a detached observer I do get a whiff of a "chip on the shoulder" kinda attitude. Perhaps no different from any language though. I use Backbone.js quite a lot, though, so I suppose you could say I am a fan of Jeremy Ashkenas' work, even though I don't like coffeescript. It doesn't solve anything for me - it just makes things a little different without offering any major benefit for me. The article you linked to was an interesting read, I hadn't really thought about it enough to put it into words. I don't really like being a naysayer about technology or sticking my head in the sand. I think the best parts of coffeescript will eventually make their way into Javascript and then coffeescript won't be necessary anymore (unless it also continues to evolve). In which case, browser support for it seems unnecessary to me. Or, perhaps it'll become a first class language in the browser and then in two years we'll have some other language that compiles to coffeescript...? It seems ridiculous to me, but I don't see why that wouldn't happen.
- jashkenas 14y ago
  > I think the best parts of coffeescript will eventually make > their way into Javascript and then coffeescript won't be > necessary anymore [...] For what it's worth, that also sounds just fine to me ;)
  - jakejake 14y ago
    hehe, love HN!

beatboxrevival 14y ago

If you don't like it, don't use it. Why is that so difficult? Troll elsewhere.

camus 14y ago

Well , coffee-script exists because it brings some choice to front-end scripting. If javascript was good there would be no need for all these langages that compiles down to javascript. Anyway, i did not not the "then" trick with classes , like new class then constructor:-> @param="something

JuDue 14y ago
I like Javascript. It took me some time to fully understand it, but it is rewarding. Coffeescript feels to me like the icing on the cake for anyone who understands what the resulting JS will function like.

epidemian 14y ago

Even if you don't like CoffeeScript, i think you should take a moment to consider the value of this tool: it integrates a language that is not natively supported by browsers into the REPL of the browsers themselves, letting you have awesome interaction with the webpage in that foreign language. These are exactly the kind of things we need to make using other languages than JS for front-end web development less painful.

jakejake 14y ago
That's a valid point. Though I wonder if it really is a step in that direction, or if it will only be relevant for languages that compile down to Javascript?