Show HN: Beautify-with-words unminifies JS with unique words for variable names
1–10 of 35 posts
Re: Show HN: Beautify-with-words unminifies JS with unique words for variable names
#2In some cases it should be able to figure out a good name for the variables. eg (var hello = 0; hello < 10; hello++) {} hello would be better named i.
Re: Show HN: Beautify-with-words unminifies JS with unique words for variable names
#3I really like the idea behind this. Anyone have any experience using something similar?
My specific question would be whether using longer gibberish variable names is any more helpful than using short names. I don't know if 'quinis' is better than 'h' or 'tenmiey' is better than 'a'? I guess at the very least it should provide a much easier find and replace once you figure out what the variable should actually be named.
Re: Show HN: Beautify-with-words unminifies JS with unique words for variable names
#4While it's a good idea, I feel like it should rename with real words, or not rename at all. From the example:
function(bedad, latay, vublu) {
if (!adag(this, "on", bedad, [ latay, vublu ]) || !latay) return this;
this._events || (this._events = {});
var cyem = this._events[bedad] || (this._events[bedad] = []);
Re: Show HN: Beautify-with-words unminifies JS with unique words for variable names
#5I really like the idea behind this. Anyone have any experience using something similar? My specific question would be whether using longer gibberish variable names is any more helpful than using short names. I don't know if 'quinis' is better than 'h' or 'tenmiey' is better than 'a'? I guess at the very least it should provide a much easier find and replace once you figure out what the variable should actually be nam…
I'm the author. Search-and-replace is the main problem this solves. Another neat effect is that if you use something like Sublime Text, you can highlight a word (variable), and see all the occurrences. Makes it much easier to figure out what unminifed code is doing without all the collisions from "h" for example.
Re: Show HN: Beautify-with-words unminifies JS with unique words for variable names
#6While it's a good idea, I feel like it should rename with real words, or not rename at all. From the example: function(bedad, latay, vublu) { if (!adag(this, "on", bedad, [ latay, vublu ]) || !latay) return this; this._events || (this._events = {}); var cyem = this._events[bedad] || (this._events[bedad] = []); bedad, latay and vublu don't make it much easier to remember which variable is which than just using a,b,c
I'm the author. Since "a", "b", "c" get recycled by different scopes, it makes it really hard to figure out which "a" you're looking that. By having unique names, you can easily spot where one variable is used exclusively. I was going to use a dictionary but I didn't want the tool to be language specific or run into unsavory words.
Re: Show HN: Beautify-with-words unminifies JS with unique words for variable names
#7While it's a good idea, I feel like it should rename with real words, or not rename at all. From the example: function(bedad, latay, vublu) { if (!adag(this, "on", bedad, [ latay, vublu ]) || !latay) return this; this._events || (this._events = {}); var cyem = this._events[bedad] || (this._events[bedad] = []); bedad, latay and vublu don't make it much easier to remember which variable is which than just using a,b,c
I'm going to have to disagree. Fake words are still better than single letters. It's much easier to scan for "vublu" in a segment of code than it is to scan for "v"
Re: Show HN: Beautify-with-words unminifies JS with unique words for variable names
#8I really like the idea behind this. Anyone have any experience using something similar? My specific question would be whether using longer gibberish variable names is any more helpful than using short names. I don't know if 'quinis' is better than 'h' or 'tenmiey' is better than 'a'? I guess at the very least it should provide a much easier find and replace once you figure out what the variable should actually be nam…
I'm the author. Search-and-replace is the main problem this solves. Another neat effect is that if you use something like Sublime Text, you can highlight a word (variable), and see all the occurrences. Makes it much easier to figure out what unminifed code is doing without all the collisions from "h" for example.
Makes sense. I would add that tip to the readme. I don't think it will be immediately obvious to people, so bringing attention to the ability to find and replace will make the renaming a more attractive feature.
Re: Show HN: Beautify-with-words unminifies JS with unique words for variable names
#9While it's a good idea, I feel like it should rename with real words, or not rename at all. From the example: function(bedad, latay, vublu) { if (!adag(this, "on", bedad, [ latay, vublu ]) || !latay) return this; this._events || (this._events = {}); var cyem = this._events[bedad] || (this._events[bedad] = []); bedad, latay and vublu don't make it much easier to remember which variable is which than just using a,b,c
The problem with a,b,c is that the minifiers aggressively re-use the same identifiers when scoping rules allow them to.
Re: Show HN: Beautify-with-words unminifies JS with unique words for variable names
#10Very cool. Nice work.
I think it would be even cooler as a Firefox extension -- open up a .min.js file in one tab, hit your button, and get a new tab with the beautified js. I don't know anything about FF extensions, but since this is written in JS in the first place, it seems doable.
(Or alternatively, it would also be cool as a standalone site, just paste the URL or uglified JavaScript in a box, and get the pretty version.)