CoffeeScript, a little language that compiles to JavaScript. Happy Holidays, HN

JavaScript has always had a gorgeous object model hidden within Java-esque syntax. CoffeeScript is an attempt to expose the good parts of JavaScript through syntax that favors expressions over statements, cuts down on punctuation noise, and provides pretty function literals. This CoffeeScript:

    square: x => x * x.

Compiles into this JavaScript:

    var square = function(x) {
      return x * x;
    };

If anyone has specific ideas about aspects of JavaScript that they think could be more convenient or better-looking, I'd love to hear them. Cheers.

Wow, this is a really nice little language.

The howto refreshing to read. While I love JS as a language, even written longhand, it feels like you've brought an uncommon elegance to it. The syntax is much simpler and maps more cleanly to how I think. It feels a lot like Ruby.

Granted, most of the JS I work on is in pretty complex applications, so I'd be hesitant to work in anything but the target language itself. But it's a very clean abstraction or concept to begin with. I'd love to see something complex written in CoffeeScript, especially with DOM manipulation or another JS framework involved.

It'd be fun to try writing a DSL or simple compiler sometime. This must have been very interesting to create. Cheers for such detailed examples in the unveiling as well.

Great job, and thanks again!

Edit: Hahaha, thanks for the examples from the Poignant Guide. Pouring out a few drops for _why right now.

Edit 2: Forgot that you wrote underscore.js - thanks for that as well. Crazy to see how simple it is when written in CS.

Cool. I've been dreaming of writing a similar python => javascript (which someone has probably done already).

My only worry about something like this is the extra step of compiling, though I run a script that compresses via YUI comp. anyway...

Thanks for sharing.

Yeah, the periods to end block scope are the part of the syntax I'm the least happy with. I couldn't think of anything nicer without resorting to significant whitespace (which I'd like to avoid).

I'd rather not add {/}, or begin/end, because it's easy to determine the beginning of the block, it's just closing it that we need a symbol for.

In terms of style, you can certainly indent the period on it's own line if you prefer:

    elements.each(el =>
      $(el).click(event =>
        if el.hidden
          el.highlight()
        .
      .)
    .)

But I'd love to hear more suggestions for alternatives.

That array comprehension feature is hot.