roberttod

9 ms·

31.
by roberttod 4y ago
Good code takes a lot of thought and care, and won't materialize just because you use static typing. So why am I spending so much time applying static typing instead of thinking about how the code should flow, about what's the bes
32.
by roberttod 4y ago
That's a lot of layers for a codebase... I see that it could be useful in that situation, but since you presumably need to test and QA your code anyway you could also throw in a console log statement. There is also JSDoc. Although thes
33.
by roberttod 4y ago
I worked many years before TS too and happened to have been working on very neat codebases back then, though I did have the luck of working with a really talented set of people. I conceed that perhaps you are correct about this - it does fo
34.
by roberttod 4y ago
Many of the most pleasant codebases I have worked with were built before TypeScript existed. Building a good codebase takes a lot of care and thought and can't come just from using TypeScript, in fact the worst cases I can remember hap
35.
by roberttod 4y ago
Let me clarify - I pretty much agree with what the parent says - "it's more like 70% BS vs. 30% value". I do still want that value i.e. static typing, but as you point out I can't get that without the BS. And so I would
36.
by roberttod 4y ago
That's the exact case I was referring to in i) - and what drove me to write this post :)
37.
by roberttod 4y ago
I mostly agree with this, and haven't been happy developing JS for some time. I don't enjoy having to deal with bundles, webpack, TypeScript, bloated dependency graphs. Luckily I can use Go for new projects, and even when picking
38.
by roberttod 4y ago
I am not saying I expect them to be better documented, only that the reality is that they are not well documented in TS and that makes TS difficult to use.
39.
by roberttod 4y ago
I worked for many years without TypeScript, and the development flow was a lot more pleasurable without a big difference in the number of bugs I saw us shipping.
40.
by roberttod 4y ago
Thanks for responding, and thanks for your work for the community! I sometimes place myself in the shoes of devs building TypeScript, especially when I am a little frustrated, and most of the time I realize that a lot of these issues are in
41.
by roberttod 4y ago
> From a different angle, is this a problem with the language itself or is it a problem with the libraries? It's a problem for me - the developer. From my viewpoint I don't really care where the responsibility of bad documentat
42.
by roberttod 4y ago
> Sure, dealing with TypeScript can be a hassle, but it is less hassle than dealing with broken software. Can you think of examples where it's prevented broken software? I would prefer to spend more time writing good unit test cover
43.
by roberttod 4y ago
Although this seems to be the opposite sentiment to what many are saying which is that it's more useful in larger projects, with many contributors, I think I probably understand this side more. Dependencies are where it starts to get t
44.
by roberttod 4y ago
My question wasn't so much asking whether I should continue to use it, that depends largely on what people have already decided to use on a codebase, or what a team or company has decided to do. I pose this question more so to understa
45.
by roberttod 4y ago
> Did you upgrade Typescript (and if so, why), or did you upgrade some project dependencies, or type definitions? I need to upgrade it because I upgraded a dependency that needed a newer version of TypeScript to compile! And I needed tha
46.
by roberttod 4y ago
I have seen this IC vs team aspect discussion before, and it definitely has merit. However I am starting to question if it's even worth it for larger codebases used by many devs, which is why I wanted to pose this question. Can you thi
47.
by roberttod 4y ago
> ii) Lots of libraries are extremely well documented and typed. This is the same in any language not just for types but also for docs, capability, perf etc. This argument applies to all software everywhere so it doesn't make sense
48.
by roberttod 4y ago
> No. It's a language compiler. You can upgrade it safely without changing a single line in your codebase. If there is a breaking change (sometimes, regarding the strictness) there's also a configuration option that lets you ke
49.
Ask HN: Is TypeScript worth it?
365 points by roberttod 4y ago|443 comments
50.
by roberttod 4y ago
IIRC the way calories are measured for food is pretty simplistic, and calories in, calories out isn't terribly accurate. I can imagine it still helps a lot with weight loss, I myself lost ~20lbs a while back counting calories. But like
51.
by roberttod 4y ago
This. I recently got approached by a scammer on Facebook marketplace. It was never going to work but the spelling/grammar issues instantly made me think something fishy was going on. They put plenty of investment into scamming me befor
52.
by roberttod 4y ago
Your description of rewiring the brain is an extra feedback loop, makes the system more complex but doesn't break determinism. Regardless, even if the world isn't deterministic through e.g. quantum mechanics, throwing dice to deci
53.
by roberttod 4y ago
This is really cool, the hardware for this is far in advance of what I was using. I was using the classic webcam type setup, with the 1/4 inch accuracy you elluded to in your post. My thesis focused more on the UI components than the h
54.
by roberttod 4y ago
Is that conjecture, or are there UIs you have in mind that work? I made an eye tracking UI for my masters thesis, with a few different components. Although they all worked, having my eyes tracked to control the UI felt very intense, it caus
55.
by roberttod 4y ago
For me, the disadvantage above any listed on the blog is that if I saw this global variable referenced in some code (especially old code, where some parts might be defunct), I would have absolutely no idea where it came from, and I bet a lo
56.
by roberttod 4y ago
I recently tried buying an esim while travelling to Sweden because I always forget to buy one at the airport, or in advance. It actually worked out very well, and it was nice not to have to swap out my existing sim and take on a new phone n
57.
by roberttod 4y ago
This is how I read it too. It highlights an intersting pattern, but how should that influence how we see new technology? I would hope people don't think it means we should just dismiss potential problems as needless fear mongering. The
58.
by roberttod 4y ago
I understand GDP as a tool that was originally built to quantify how much a nation is producing, and in result focus the economy to increase that number. But like many tools, at some point they expire and we need to move on. imo GDP is past
59.
by roberttod 4y ago
Agree. It's always a safe prediction that the status quo is what the future looks like but thinking like that only serves to stifle innovation. I for one am very interested in alternatives, and here to support anyone helping to dig us
60.
by roberttod 4y ago
A lot of comments here like "we tried this", "people didn't want this" and "that's not where things are going". As far as I see it, the timing is perfectly ripe right now for change. People are on the

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