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JavaScript developers are incredible at problem solving, unfortunately

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Re: JavaScript developers are incredible at problem solving, unfortunately

#81

Post by ciaoben »

Just a little advice for newcomers ( like me ) that are scared but at the same time fascinated when it comes to use javascript. If you choose a framework to work with, stick to it for the entire project, and if you find an error that makes you struggle, don't immediately invent your own solution to patch it: for all the things that are said in this article, it always easy being attract to the fact that in every framework/code base you can put a simple piece of code that make things simpler for your and let you go ahead when you are stuck. But in my experience, most of the times, it only about being lazy and scared from and understood error. Behaving like this it let you behind, and don't make you improve your skills. And always break the entire logic of the tools you're using.

JS is a scripting language, so it easy 'script' your solution and postpone a problem. But it this way, you will never be able to improve, and your life with JS will remain frustrating and hard.

Re: JavaScript developers are incredible at problem solving, unfortunately

#82

Post by thaumaturgy »

chuckcode wrote: post #29
Xeoncross wrote: post #13

I learned a while ago that it doesn't matter how broken something is if everyone is using it. Humans are incredibly resourceful, if not also short-sighted. Look at PHP, look at Javascript, look at Wordpress, look at email, look at the original jQuery etc...

qwerty keyboard is my favorite example. Designed to solve the key sticking problem when typing too fast but now we're all stuck with a layout designed to be inefficient. https://www.addedbytes.com/blog/dvorak-vs-qwerty/

FYI, the "key sticking" origin of qwerty is probably a myth: http://www.smithsonianmag.com/arts-culture/fact-of-fiction-t...

Re: JavaScript developers are incredible at problem solving, unfortunately

#83

Post by MasterScrat »

anotherangrydev wrote: post #54

Problem: Javascript has almost no standard library. --> Why is this a problem? What does he mean by standard library? Like, "strings", regexes and hashes? Not needed. Problem: Javascript won't run outside the browser. --> Fixed. Problem: The DOM is too slow for video games. --> Fixed. Problem: Javascript is single-thread by design. --> Why is this a bad thing? Problem: Javascript is too slow for video games. --> [Cit…

I... somehow disagree with everything you are saying, sorry.

Re: JavaScript developers are incredible at problem solving, unfortunately

#84

Post by gotofritz »

I actually think the "blame" is not so much Javascript's - after all it has existed since 1996 and it wasn't like that at all for many years.

I wonder how much the rise of Github's / npm have to do with it. In the last 5 years or so it has become so much easier to create and share projects. Not only so - it has become a requirement, people use Github as their CV, we are all _expected_ to have side projects and stuff.

Re: JavaScript developers are incredible at problem solving, unfortunately

#85

Post by dbattaglia »

wwwtyro wrote: post #46

"Problem: asm.js is basically unwritable by humans." I have no idea where this is coming from, but it's simply untrue. See [1] for a ton of examples of it being perfectly human read/writable. All I can come up with is that people are looking at code compiled to asm.js, which is of course going to have all semantic meaning stripped from it, no different than code compiled to javascript. [1] http://asmjs.org/spec/lates…

I wonder if people just say that now without actually looking. The last time I saw any asm.js code it looked like very boring old c++ code, nothing crazy. Probably more readable to a newcomer than closures or self calling anonymous function wrappers.

Re: JavaScript developers are incredible at problem solving, unfortunately

#86

Post by lispm »

atinoda-kestrel wrote: post #41
bwaxxlo wrote: post #21

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I find most people who have gripes with JS prototypes are the ones who are used to classical inheritance. Overall, the more I understand JS, the more I'm convinces most issues raised are personal preferences.

> I find most people who have gripes with JS prototypes are the ones who are used to classical inheritance. Counterpoint: Scheme/Lisp/FP fans also don't tend to like it. Myself included.

Not really.

The idea of protypical object-systems is for a large part coming out of the Lisp community (and the Smalltalk community) and was used long before Self or Javascript.

Check the works of Henry Lieberman. The Self developers got the idea of 'delegation' from him. Object Lisp was a prototype-based object system used in LMI's Lisp Machine OS and in Macintosh Common Lisp (until it was replaced by the then developed standard CLOS). Various Lisp-based systems were developed in the 'knowledge representation' domain, which are supporting 'prototypes'. Apple for example developed a system called Sk8 in Macintosh Common Lisp, which made extensive use of prototypes for multimedia UI tool development.

With the advent of CLOS those were not used for typical OO programming in Lisp - not because people don't like it, but because another standard system was provided.

Re: JavaScript developers are incredible at problem solving, unfortunately

#87

Post by andresmanz »

MasterScrat wrote: post #83
anotherangrydev wrote: post #54

Problem: Javascript has almost no standard library. --> Why is this a problem? What does he mean by standard library? Like, "strings", regexes and hashes? Not needed. Problem: Javascript won't run outside the browser. --> Fixed. Problem: The DOM is too slow for video games. --> Fixed. Problem: Javascript is single-thread by design. --> Why is this a bad thing? Problem: Javascript is too slow for video games. --> [Cit…

I... somehow disagree with everything you are saying, sorry.

Maybe it's because of that attitude of forcing JavaScript upon everything, instead of simply using the appropriate tools. That's what I expect from people like this comment writer, and that's what causes that digging in the comic.

Re: JavaScript developers are incredible at problem solving, unfortunately

#89

Post by collyw »

anotherangrydev wrote: post #54

Problem: Javascript has almost no standard library. --> Why is this a problem? What does he mean by standard library? Like, "strings", regexes and hashes? Not needed. Problem: Javascript won't run outside the browser. --> Fixed. Problem: The DOM is too slow for video games. --> Fixed. Problem: Javascript is single-thread by design. --> Why is this a bad thing? Problem: Javascript is too slow for video games. --> [Cit…

Indeed, if you could do:

"include ; run();"

why the hell would you not do that?

Re: JavaScript developers are incredible at problem solving, unfortunately

#90

Post by rrss1122 »

blhack wrote: post #9

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 gotte…

I use Javascript every day. The cognitive load you're talking about doesn't exist with me.

On the browser, all I need is a library that handles DOM manipulation easily and has good browser support. When I find one, I stick with it for a long time and only change when something really exceptional comes along. Exceptional doesn't mean "literally saves THE WORLD", it means either comes up with better ways of accomplishing what my current library does, or does the same thing but with a huge decrease in file size.

I'm not interested in the flood of people trying to become the next John Resig. I'm just interested in getting stuff done.

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