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JavaScript Is Weird

jsisweird.com

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Re: JavaScript Is Weird

#91

Post by z3t4 »

onion2k wrote: post #19

0.2 + 0.1 === 0.3 That's not really a JS problem, that's a floating point problem. Plenty of languages will have the same issue. +!![] "" - - "" (null - 0) + "0" Calling these things weird is fair enough but I can't help thinking this is code you'd never actually write outside of the context of a "Look how weird JS is!" post. It's like picking examples from the Annual Obfuscated C Contest to show how hard it is to un…

Also things like +!![] is because while JS is dynamic it does have a very strict type system! ![] becomes a boolean +true becomes a number.

Re: JavaScript Is Weird

#92

Post by golergka »

jiofih wrote: post #75
hootbootscoot wrote: post #45

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It is 'trash' for the general purpose 'one-size-fits-all' programming language that it's fans want to impose upon the world. (I shake my head at microcontrollers running dynamic languages. "micro-python" = spare me. line breaks over a TTY? there's the primary question of on-chip resources and a giant shim between the physical realities of a microcontroller and some high-level fantasies about what programming "should…

That’s a load of gibberish. JS as a language has nothing to do with browser APIs, why would you judge it based on that? Also, ES6 was ratified six years ago. Seems like you had a bad experience with espruino / jerryscript or something and are projecting based on that? Dynamic languages are easier to program in. That’s a fact, and why they are so popular.

Although I like Javascript (Typescript) a lot, I have to bite:

> Dynamic languages are easier to program in.

Only if you don't care about writing correct and maintainable programs. The only thing that dynamic languages make easier is writing code. Or, more specifically, the first couple of versions of it. That's not what typical programming as a process mostly consists of.

Re: JavaScript Is Weird

#93

Post by blowski »

foepys wrote: post #59
blowski wrote: post #30

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Exactly. Finding flaws in a language doesn't mean the language is bad, just that it has... flaws. The proof that JS is actually pretty good is that it has been used to build so many things. Like the old adage about economics, these criticisms are taking something that works in practice and trying to see if it works in theory.

Just because something is popular isn't reason for it to be good. Examples: fossil fuels, (over)fishing, rage-based engagement, hard drugs.

On the contrary - the number of people taking hard drugs to get high is fantastic evidence that they are good for getting high. Otherwise, why would people be buying and taking them?

Re: JavaScript Is Weird

#94

Post by lampe3 »

nodejs_rulez_1 wrote: post #3

> JavaScript is a great programming language, but ... Why are we so afraid to call trash "trash"? It's not attacking the creator, but just how can we make progress if things are not perceived as they are? https://wtfjs.com

the only trash is that comment LooL

Re: JavaScript Is Weird

#95

Post by LandR »

nodejs_rulez_1 wrote: post #3

> JavaScript is a great programming language, but ... Why are we so afraid to call trash "trash"? It's not attacking the creator, but just how can we make progress if things are not perceived as they are? https://wtfjs.com

Because some developers will take offense. They will think that if you call the language they use trash then you are calling them a trash developer.

It's odd, there are developers who make the language they work part of their identity and see attacks on that language as attacks on their identity.

I don't get it, but it is what it is. If you call javascript trash, you will offend people.

Re: JavaScript Is Weird

#96

Post by Aaargh20318 »

jmkni wrote: post #47
superasn wrote: post #37

I think a lot of these errors can be fixed with using strict types, aka Typescript. I've had the same issues with PHP in the past too, which makes me believe that whosoever created these languages had ease of use as a higher priority than strictness, i.e. it's okay to assign bool, int, string to the same variable.. just get the job done.. okay. On the other end of the spectrum is a programming language like Pascal (o…

I had a similar feeling recently using Swift for a project. Pure JavaScript is definitely a bit too loose for my liking, but I thought Swift went a bit too far in the other direction.

I had that experience with Swift for maybe the first 2 days I used it. Nowadays I really appreciate Swift’s strictness. It just helps prevent so many stupid mistakes.

I worked on a high-profile project for my company under a strict deadline and Swift was a major part in ensuring we delivered a rock-solid implementation in record time.

Re: JavaScript Is Weird

#97

Post by vvoyer »

I stopped at the first example (true + false).

If you write code like this, you have bigger problems than using JavaScript. For most of the examples, it's like saying "Here's what happens when you plug a fan to a faucet". There's no point really.

JavaScript is weird just like any other language can be weird when you use it in weird ways. And yes, it's certainly one of the weirdest.

If you want to talk about things weird in JavaScript, let's talk about ES modules in Node.js and the Browser, or the number of decisions you have to make to bootstrap a simple web app in JavaScript, and how a language written in 10 days is shipped to billion of devices today.

But, this kind of content, (while well made technically) is always the same one about JavaScript.

Re: JavaScript Is Weird

#98

Post by blowski »

leoc wrote: post #89
blowski wrote: post #72

Earlier quoted context omitted.

https://english.stackexchange.com/a/30012/7762

Yes, the quotation from dictonary.com exactly supports what I am saying. It's a piece of spoken dialect not standard English. It's as if I was after using hiberno-English constructions in a HN comment. Will you go on out of that.

If your comments were comprehensible to most HN readers, I wouldn't see the problem in using Hiberno-English, or any other colloquialisms.

Re: JavaScript Is Weird

#99

Post by timvdalen »

amelius wrote: post #79
franciscop wrote: post #40

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If you open the console to check after you're finished, it says: "What, are you going to check if the results are accurate? Go ahead " But if you open it console while doing the test, it says: "Hey, stop cheating! "

Why the hell can websites tell that I'm in the console? If I want to inspect some parts of a website (perhaps save an image), then I don't want that website to interfere.

While there are some ways to detect having devtools open[1], this website isn't actually using them. Instead, it just always writes these messages to the console. Before navigating to the answers, it clears the console so you don't see the messages that were logged before.

[1]: https://stackoverflow.com/a/7809413/451847

Re: JavaScript Is Weird

#100

Post by wruza »

onion2k wrote: post #19

0.2 + 0.1 === 0.3 That's not really a JS problem, that's a floating point problem. Plenty of languages will have the same issue. +!![] "" - - "" (null - 0) + "0" Calling these things weird is fair enough but I can't help thinking this is code you'd never actually write outside of the context of a "Look how weird JS is!" post. It's like picking examples from the Annual Obfuscated C Contest to show how hard it is to un…

The same for “== considered harmful”. I scanned the entire comparison table and the only unobvious or error-prone cases are those you never really do in programming.

https://stackoverflow.com/a/23465314

For me it’s only rows [[]], [0], [1], i.e. array-unfolding related, but all others are regular weak-typed comparisons like in perl and other dynamic semantics. Edit: just realized “if (array)” is okay, nevermind.

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