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And it's such a different set of goals. You're unlikely to break something fundamental with Javascript, which is fantastic. It's a safer thing to play with tha
by HCIdivision17 12y ago
And it's such a different set of goals. You're unlikely to break something fundamental with Javascript, which is fantastic. It's a safer thing to play with than a kernel. Put sub-par code in the Linux kernel, and your computer doesn't boot. Mess up your JS and your webpage renders off-center. The severity of failure is so different that it'd be silly to get bent out of shape over it.
Of course, you can do insane things in JS, but that's part of the fun. Even at its worst, it'll crash a program or browser tab that can just be reloaded. Annoying and inconvenient, but the computer's still chugging and no harm's done.
- danbruc 12y agoThe worst case is not an off-center web page, the worst case is exposing user information or making your backend attackable in other ways. Just because you use JavaScript and it runs on a client machine far away you are not magically protected from screwing up.
- HCIdivision17 12y agoSure. Yes, security is hard. You got me there. Javascript does not decrease your attack surface, and is not, in fact, magic. That's not a free-pass negation of my point that crashing a browser tab is substantially less severe than a kernel panic, and thus likewise greater engineering due diligence is needed for its code. There's nothing magical about it.