I love Javascript but Dart is appealing to me. I know there is a stream of Java / C# / C++ programmers that desire a Java-esque, improved GWT experience and lo

I love Javascript but Dart is appealing to me. I know there is a stream of Java / C# / C++ programmers that desire a Java-esque, improved GWT experience and loathe Javascript. But I see Dart more as a refined/upgraded Javascript -- some additional language/toolset features like Objective-C or C++ do for C. Advantages of Dart over Node.js or CoffeeScript or plain Javascript? 1. "Batteries included" -- instead of reliance upon assortment of modules, OO system built in, better DOM utilities than jQuery (query returns a first class object), functional like Javascript sans the function keyword). 2. So nice that you can split a project across a whole bunch of code files, yet it will condense and minify into one efficient javascript file. Yes, there are tools with all the various Javascript frameworks to accomplish this, but then you're reliant upon of hierarchical library dependencies that sometimes can be brittle. 3. Can run server side just as Node.js with a powerful VM, without the need (though certainly possible and optional) to install a plethora of other libraries. I think it hasn't taken off because up until recent months, the language and library has not been stable enough for production development -- libraries have changed a lot and most of the code in all of the Dart books published to date will not run at all now (though the Dart SDK comes with a tool that can help migrating code). There are still some sore spots I hope get addressed -- primarily, on server side, need for built-in DB libraries and on client side, JSONP/CORS that is as easy as jQuery makes it. At least in my XP.