JavaScript developers are incredible at problem solving, unfortunately

One wonders how we get out of this mess. You'd have thought that Microsoft/Google/Apple/whomever would have at least tried to include a better alternative language in their browser by now. What stops them besides inertia?

Re: JavaScript developers are incredible at problem solving, unfortunately

#9

Post by blhack » Thu, Jul 09, 2015, 10:55 PM UTC

This is absolutely a NIGHTMARE for new developers. People come into the language, and there are what seems like an infinite number of "the only right" ways to do something, all of vary degrees of complexity/usefulness, and all claiming that they are god's gift to computer science.

That last part is the part that is most frustrating to me, and it isn't unique to javascript.

Google, facebook, yahoo, etc. have all gotten along pretty much just fine up until this point using existing web technologies. We should ALWAYS be trying to improve those technologies, and we should ALWAYS being trying to improve the workflows involved in using those technologies, but what comes across as ridiculous is the apple-style "this literally solves everything, and everything before it totally sucks and is useless and you are stupid for using it" marketing behind them.

I like javascript. A lot. I use it every single day, and it does a lot of useful things for me.

But my god the cognitive load involved in swimming through all of the "this library literally saves THE WORLD" marketing fluff is intense.

Javascripters, I get it, you're really excited. I am too. But maybe tone it down just a few notches.

Here's a thing I wrote about this topic a few years ago: http://thingist.com/blog.html?id=21434

Re: JavaScript developers are incredible at problem solving, unfortunately

#10

Post by tim333 » Thu, Jul 09, 2015, 10:55 PM UTC

felixgallo wrote: post #8

One wonders how we get out of this mess. You'd have thought that Microsoft/Google/Apple/whomever would have at least tried to include a better alternative language in their browser by now. What stops them besides inertia?

They've tried Typescript and Dart. No massive uptake to date. WebAssembly may be a way forward.