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Javascript Constructors and Prototypes

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Re: Javascript Constructors and Prototypes

#11

Post by marrs »

wldlyinaccurate wrote: post #6
pests wrote: post #5

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Did you see the article he linked about why he doesn't use them? http://mislav.uniqpath.com/2010/05/semicolons/ Not reading an article because of that would be like not reading other code because it uses 2 spaces for tabs instead of 4. Makes no difference to the language, only to you.

The thing is, semicolons do make a difference with JavaScript. It's now 404ing, but there was a pretty well-known argument on one of Twitter Bootstrap's GitHub issues[1]. The Bootstrap guys didn't use semicolons, and it caused problems when minifying the code. It's an edge case, I know, but it was a problem. I never understood the whole anti-semicolon thing anyway. It just seems really hipster to me. Use CoffeeScript…

Why does it seem hipster to use a language feature? Is it hipster to use null coalesce as well?

The article linked above explains the reasons to omit semi-colons very well. I would personally prefer if JS forced you to terminate all statements with a semi-colon to avoid any ambiguity, but there you go.

Speaking of ambiguity caused by whitespace, Coffeescript is a 1st degree offender for this. All you have to do is indent the wrong block of code, and you completely change the scope of a nested function, and you have no visual indication of your mistake whatsoever.

Re: Javascript Constructors and Prototypes

#12

Post by stefanve »

pests wrote: post #5
gregorkas wrote: post #2

I wanted to read this because I believe it's a great article, but the fact that he doesn't use semicolons pretty much turned me off. While I was looking at the JavaScript code my brain almost exploded.

Did you see the article he linked about why he doesn't use them? http://mislav.uniqpath.com/2010/05/semicolons/ Not reading an article because of that would be like not reading other code because it uses 2 spaces for tabs instead of 4. Makes no difference to the language, only to you.

Maybe it is not necessary but I don't see anything against it. That was the weird thing about that article all kinds of semi legit reasons why it is not necessary to use them but no reason why not to use them. I would say if there are some semi legit reasons to use them and no reason not to use them than just use them :)

Re: Javascript Constructors and Prototypes

#13

Post by stefanve »

kybernetikos wrote: post #10

I wrote an interactive guide to javascript that covers a lot of the same material. http://caplin.github.io/new2JS/

Looks nice and it helpful, thanks. Maybe you could change the output so the latest output is on top instead on the bottom (more blog style). Also it would be nice to reset the output altogether

Re: Javascript Constructors and Prototypes

#14

Post by gregorkas »

pests wrote: post #5
gregorkas wrote: post #2

I wanted to read this because I believe it's a great article, but the fact that he doesn't use semicolons pretty much turned me off. While I was looking at the JavaScript code my brain almost exploded.

Did you see the article he linked about why he doesn't use them? http://mislav.uniqpath.com/2010/05/semicolons/ Not reading an article because of that would be like not reading other code because it uses 2 spaces for tabs instead of 4. Makes no difference to the language, only to you.

I agree with you, but still, I look at (a lot of) JavaScript every day and it's hard to explain it, but for some reason I find the lack of semicolons disturbing. I have no problem with CoffeeScript and I've also worked with Python a lot so I appreciate a language without semicolons, but I don't approve mixing the styles.

I think this is more of a psychological thing than a syntax thing because if you're used to a syntax of a language, it gets embedded in your brain and with years of practice you can spot a missing semicolon from a mile away after only a quick glance over the code. People are afraid of changes and if they are used to something and that thing is taken away they become unsettled.

Or their brain explodes if they see JavaScript with missing semicolons :P.

Re: Javascript Constructors and Prototypes

#15

Post by mradmin »

marrs wrote: post #11
wldlyinaccurate wrote: post #6

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The thing is, semicolons do make a difference with JavaScript. It's now 404ing, but there was a pretty well-known argument on one of Twitter Bootstrap's GitHub issues[1]. The Bootstrap guys didn't use semicolons, and it caused problems when minifying the code. It's an edge case, I know, but it was a problem. I never understood the whole anti-semicolon thing anyway. It just seems really hipster to me. Use CoffeeScript…

Why does it seem hipster to use a language feature? Is it hipster to use null coalesce as well? The article linked above explains the reasons to omit semi-colons very well. I would personally prefer if JS forced you to terminate all statements with a semi-colon to avoid any ambiguity, but there you go. Speaking of ambiguity caused by whitespace, Coffeescript is a 1st degree offender for this. All you have to do is in…

It's hipster because it goes against the accepted standard way of writing Javascript. See https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=1547647&utm_source=twit...

Re: Javascript Constructors and Prototypes

#16

Post by tlrobinson »

marrs wrote: post #11
wldlyinaccurate wrote: post #6

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The thing is, semicolons do make a difference with JavaScript. It's now 404ing, but there was a pretty well-known argument on one of Twitter Bootstrap's GitHub issues[1]. The Bootstrap guys didn't use semicolons, and it caused problems when minifying the code. It's an edge case, I know, but it was a problem. I never understood the whole anti-semicolon thing anyway. It just seems really hipster to me. Use CoffeeScript…

Why does it seem hipster to use a language feature? Is it hipster to use null coalesce as well? The article linked above explains the reasons to omit semi-colons very well. I would personally prefer if JS forced you to terminate all statements with a semi-colon to avoid any ambiguity, but there you go. Speaking of ambiguity caused by whitespace, Coffeescript is a 1st degree offender for this. All you have to do is in…

CoffeeScript certainly has its syntax quirks, but after some forced time using it I've found I can't go back to happily writing plain old JavaScript.

The first week or two you'll regularly need to peek at the compiled source to be sure it's doing what you want, but you'll quickly get a feel for it.

Also, a lot of the weird ambiguous cases are disambiguated by including parenthesis, so if you're unsure just include the parens and you should be ok.

Re: Javascript Constructors and Prototypes

#18

Post by Donito »

pests wrote: post #5
gregorkas wrote: post #2

I wanted to read this because I believe it's a great article, but the fact that he doesn't use semicolons pretty much turned me off. While I was looking at the JavaScript code my brain almost exploded.

Did you see the article he linked about why he doesn't use them? http://mislav.uniqpath.com/2010/05/semicolons/ Not reading an article because of that would be like not reading other code because it uses 2 spaces for tabs instead of 4. Makes no difference to the language, only to you.

Terrible article in my opinion teaching some really bad habits that will cause hard to find bugs over time. Truth is, omitting semi-colons is probably fine at smaller scale, but for larger javascript code base with multiple maintainers, it's definitely a better practice in my opinion. Oh well, no point in me saying what has already been said :)

Re: Javascript Constructors and Prototypes

#19

Post by coldtea »

pests wrote: post #5
gregorkas wrote: post #2

I wanted to read this because I believe it's a great article, but the fact that he doesn't use semicolons pretty much turned me off. While I was looking at the JavaScript code my brain almost exploded.

Did you see the article he linked about why he doesn't use them? http://mislav.uniqpath.com/2010/05/semicolons/ Not reading an article because of that would be like not reading other code because it uses 2 spaces for tabs instead of 4. Makes no difference to the language, only to you.

>Did you see the article he linked about why he doesn't use them?

Yes, it's bollocks, goes against standard practice, and abuses a misfeature of the JS interpreter.

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