The change in JS isn't "out with the old, in with the new"...it's just "in with the new". There are more choices than ever before, because you can build about 100x the kinds of apps that you could have before with JavaScript. Prior to 2009, JavaScript was pretty much only good for web applications. Now, you can build servers, embedded devices, native applications for every platform imaginable, you name it. Pretty much anything that can be built, can be built with JavaScript.
Ask HN: Why is everything in JavaScript changing so fast?
211–220 of 303 posts
Re: Ask HN: Why is everything in JavaScript changing so fast?
#212http://hotframeworks.com/ Skip the chart, look at the long tail of listings.
It doesn't have React. Is this an oversight or does it not count as framework in their definition?
Re: Ask HN: Why is everything in JavaScript changing so fast?
#213> For example angular 2 is not compatible with angular 1, so before you even learn a framework its API is different and when you finally learn it, probably is considered outdated
Angular 1 has been released in 2010 and Angular 2 in 2016. Obviously, if you started to learn Angular 1 last year it can be frustrating (specially with Angular, it's not the easiest framework to learn out there [1] [2] ). But I would say the majority of Angular developers has used it for 3 or 4 years now and most of them probably enjoy to have the chance to learn a new modern framework that fixes the design issues of the first version.
To generalize: The front-end world is surely overwhelming for the new comers (but is it not the same in all the other fields of programming?). However, after some years into it, you realize that you have mostly sticked to the same tools for years. [3]
[1] https://www.bennadel.com/resources/uploads/2013/feelings_abo...
[2] https://i.imgur.com/5rJH3co.png
[3] https://gist.github.com/ggregoire/f41ae88bb8e192ad70be690f19...
Re: Ask HN: Why is everything in JavaScript changing so fast?
#214Slight tangent, but if someone were getting started in JS today and wanted to build medium-complexity, async-heavy, web apps with decent-sized backend, what stack should he invest his time on? React, angular, node, elm, express, etc?
Let's assume he wants the skills/tools to still be relevant in 1-2 years time in a sizable percentage of the job market (noticed that many startups don't like people with web experience that isn't in React/Angular/Node).
Re: Ask HN: Why is everything in JavaScript changing so fast?
#215Earlier quoted context omitted.
Having been a programmer for the past 18 years, I can say that JavaScript definitely suffers from "rock star" syndrome. There are great people in every programming community... and JavaScript is no exception. But never have I seen a community so plagued by the conference speaker, twitter famous types. (The types that refer to people not in their perceived realm of popularity as "filthy randos") It's incredibly toxic.…
Some ppl simply are rock stars. They are better than everyone else at the whole open-source lifecycle. They know how to do the marketing, manage scope, ship features, manage issues, etc. To make a successful open-source project is not easy and is about balancing a range of factors, including balancing their work/life. Not everyone can do this, or wants to do this. I think rock stars earn their status.
As an outsider to the community, I see it as a pathology that there are people you are supposed to recognize outside of the language creator. Not that a culture is a bad thing but in a healthy technical community recognition should come from decades of hard work - not from a nice landing page and a framework of the week.
IMO, social media and blogosphere driven complex work cannot be deep, just confused.
Re: Ask HN: Why is everything in JavaScript changing so fast?
#216Earlier quoted context omitted.
Having been a programmer for the past 18 years, I can say that JavaScript definitely suffers from "rock star" syndrome. There are great people in every programming community... and JavaScript is no exception. But never have I seen a community so plagued by the conference speaker, twitter famous types. (The types that refer to people not in their perceived realm of popularity as "filthy randos") It's incredibly toxic.…
Some ppl simply are rock stars. They are better than everyone else at the whole open-source lifecycle. They know how to do the marketing, manage scope, ship features, manage issues, etc. To make a successful open-source project is not easy and is about balancing a range of factors, including balancing their work/life. Not everyone can do this, or wants to do this. I think rock stars earn their status.
> They know how to do the marketing
This is the only necessary component of stardom.
When something is actually good, it'll retain its popularity.
Re: Ask HN: Why is everything in JavaScript changing so fast?
#217I think all the churn is a sign of several problems. First, the language was not designed to do what people are trying to use it for. Second, I question whether the framework makers are familiar with "native" UI APIs (e.g. Java, Qt, NextStep), which solved a lot of these problems years ago. Notice the lack of churn in native UI APIs (exception of Microsoft). Third, it seems like the frameworks try to build on top of…
> First, the language was not designed to do what people are trying to use it for
Against this point: Few languages are used for what they were designed for. Java was designed as a control language for "smart" TVs. PHP was designed for making personal homepages a little bit reactive. JS was designed for making client side pages dynamic.
And now all three are being used as server software.
Re: Ask HN: Why is everything in JavaScript changing so fast?
#218Earlier quoted context omitted.
On the contrary; Rails was a massive innovation because it proved that opinionated, reasonable defaults ("convention over configuration") is how most people actually want to write software. For a CRUD app, Rails was a shining beacon of light, because it allowed you to crank one out in mere hours, instead of days of fiddling with repetitive glue code that you would've had to write instead in literally any other web fr…
> how most people actually want to write software. [citation needed] Honestly, Rails wasn't the first or last RAD platform and I don't think a randomly-selected subset of programmers who have used it would describe it as a shining beacon of light. JS frameworks are actually pretty diverse, and if you think the ecosystem is a bunch of MV* variants just waiting for something innovative to come along, with respect, you…
Can you tell something about your favourite alternative to RoR way?
Re: Ask HN: Why is everything in JavaScript changing so fast?
#219Slight tangent, but if someone were getting started in JS today and wanted to build medium-complexity, async-heavy, web apps with decent-sized backend, what stack should he invest his time on? React, angular, node, elm, express, etc? Let's assume he wants the skills/tools to still be relevant in 1-2 years time in a sizable percentage of the job market (noticed that many startups don't like people with web experience…
You can't go wrong picking React. To get started, install the official create-react-app [1], follow Facebook's tutorial [2] and that's it.
Re: Ask HN: Why is everything in JavaScript changing so fast?
#220Earlier quoted context omitted.
Nothing here disproves the claim you try to disprove. "There are smart people" - that's a given, but how does that disprove that the barrier is low, and the vast majority of less-to-none experienced developers choose JS these days?
I was tackling the blanket assertion that Javascript developers are novice programmers. It's understood that there are programmers of all skill levels who use Javascript. However statements like the aforementioned are dangerous when people just assume it must be true. There are novice programmers and many of them choose Javascript is more accurate. The aforementioned assertion is used as a pejorative by programmers f…
I think in general since the number of programmers grows, the majority must be novices, and the language growing most rapidly has relatively the largest amount of novices. I know it sounds like snobistry and not a statistical blanket statement, though.