Node.js isn't a silver bullet, but it's still a bullet.
1–10 of 110 posts
Re: Node.js isn't a silver bullet, but it's still a bullet.
#2Good article. I never get why people of one language bash another language. No language is perfect for every task. Use what is good for you and works. Don't bash others because you don't use it.
Re: Node.js isn't a silver bullet, but it's still a bullet.
#3Languages are tools. Good carpenters use the right tool for the right job. Can you use sand paper to sand a door down to fit the space? Sure...but there is a reason the plane was invented.
Re: Node.js isn't a silver bullet, but it's still a bullet.
#4The problem was the hype. It was hyped as a silver bullet, and we even have issues like people who have drunk too much Node Kool-Aid thinking that Node has the absolute best multithreading solution, and anything else that doesn't work exactly like Node is therefore worse, when Node in fact merely has a polished-but-old-school approach to the problem.
If people are upset that Node isn't a silver bullet, it's because the Node community never worried too much about making sure that people knew it wasn't one. It's why I've been saying that when I actually come onto HN here and try to puncture the hype, I'm actually doing Node a favor, by calibrating expectations closer to reality.
Node isn't useless, but the problems with the Node approach are well-understood since it's an approach the greater programming community has about 20 years of experience with, as are the potential workarounds, and even just how far the workarounds can be taken before you run into problems with the fact the underlying language is only so powerful. This sort of event-based approach just intrinsically scales poorly as program size increases, even with all the grease and goop you can muster up in a language that has closures.
Re: Node.js isn't a silver bullet, but it's still a bullet.
#5The problem was the hype. It was hyped as a silver bullet, and we even have issues like people who have drunk too much Node Kool-Aid thinking that Node has the absolute best multithreading solution, and anything else that doesn't work exactly like Node is therefore worse, when Node in fact merely has a polished-but-old-school approach to the problem. If people are upset that Node isn't a silver bullet, it's because t…
What hype? Whose hype? I think it's a strawman.
There is a certain class of problem that often appears on the web presentation layer -- the interaction between the browser and a cornucopia of back-end sources and systems -- where nodejs is often a very good fit, and it is almost always what enthusiasts of the platform are speaking of.
That's it. Nothing more.
I've seen various angry retorts that opine that become it isn't suitable for various very unsuitable purposes (see - calculating prime numbers, etc), it sucks. Such misdirection has no place in this industry.
Re: Node.js isn't a silver bullet, but it's still a bullet.
#6Node was the best choice for our service, I'm willing to go to court with this. We need a fast fire and forget server to talk with Redis continuously, what's a better option? Erlang? I think there are ~3.6 developers in Israel that know Erlang.
Re: Node.js isn't a silver bullet, but it's still a bullet.
#7The problem was the hype. It was hyped as a silver bullet, and we even have issues like people who have drunk too much Node Kool-Aid thinking that Node has the absolute best multithreading solution, and anything else that doesn't work exactly like Node is therefore worse, when Node in fact merely has a polished-but-old-school approach to the problem. If people are upset that Node isn't a silver bullet, it's because t…
What hype? Whose hype? I think it's a strawman. There is a certain class of problem that often appears on the web presentation layer -- the interaction between the browser and a cornucopia of back-end sources and systems -- where nodejs is often a very good fit, and it is almost always what enthusiasts of the platform are speaking of. That's it. Nothing more. I've seen various angry retorts that opine that become it…
If you've spent any appreciable amount of time on Hacker News, you'd know that there has been pretty big hype behind Node.js. If you don't see it, you're not paying attention. Anecdotally, I work with a lot of fairly inexperienced developers with my clients, and I honestly can't tell you how many times they've suggested we "rewrite (x) in Node.js because it's faster" or "let's switch this to Redis" with no real reason behind it. When one digs down, we eventually arrive at "I read a blog post that said it was real fast and stuff."
I like Node a lot. I think it solves some hard problems, but just like NoSQL, TDD, and a bevy of other things, they're not silver bullets even if they're painted like one.
Re: Node.js isn't a silver bullet, but it's still a bullet.
#8The problem was the hype. It was hyped as a silver bullet, and we even have issues like people who have drunk too much Node Kool-Aid thinking that Node has the absolute best multithreading solution, and anything else that doesn't work exactly like Node is therefore worse, when Node in fact merely has a polished-but-old-school approach to the problem. If people are upset that Node isn't a silver bullet, it's because t…
I agree but I don't think event-based approach is poor as you're stating. Twisted or EventMachine use that approach and are pretty well known for that. It looks like it works wonderfully well in a couple of particular cases but Node as every new language got its couple of pioneers running to create the new "Rails/Django" in that language asap. This is in my humble opinion the issue there.
Another issue is that Node is actually using Javascript, meaning it get a broader community than any new general language. But this community isn't by definition well familiarized with threading or async situations. These developers can easily slide into the "silver bullet thing".
Explaining the core notions behind event-based solutions and threading ones to a "nodejs hipster" usually allow him to understand the right uses cases for it, at least from my experience.
Re: Node.js isn't a silver bullet, but it's still a bullet.
#9Node was the best choice for our service, I'm willing to go to court with this. We need a fast fire and forget server to talk with Redis continuously, what's a better option? Erlang? I think there are ~3.6 developers in Israel that know Erlang.
Sinatra?
Re: Node.js isn't a silver bullet, but it's still a bullet.
#10Earlier quoted context omitted.
What hype? Whose hype? I think it's a strawman. There is a certain class of problem that often appears on the web presentation layer -- the interaction between the browser and a cornucopia of back-end sources and systems -- where nodejs is often a very good fit, and it is almost always what enthusiasts of the platform are speaking of. That's it. Nothing more. I've seen various angry retorts that opine that become it…
If you've spent any appreciable amount of time on Hacker News, you'd know that there has been pretty big hype behind Node.js. If you don't see it, you're not paying attention. Anecdotally, I work with a lot of fairly inexperienced developers with my clients, and I honestly can't tell you how many times they've suggested we "rewrite (x) in Node.js because it's faster" or "let's switch this to Redis" with no real reaso…
If you've spent any appreciable amount of time on Hacker News, you'd know that there has been pretty big hype behind Node.js
A considerable percentage of HN's visitors deal in exactly the realm that node.js serves: that gooey layer between browser and back-end systems. This is like complaining that coffee enthusiasts are interested in burr grinders when it's entirely unsuitable for chipping tree branches. There is no surprise that many HNers find node.js interesting and exciting.