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I ported a JavaScript app to Dart

blog.sethladd.com

11–20 of 83 posts

Re: I ported a JavaScript app to Dart

#11
I'm concerned that, however good Dart may be, the fact that zero browsers intend on supporting it natively (and I understand they non-natively support it via js compilation), the popularity is likely to escalate.

Wasn't the idea of Dart to replace JavaScript as the "lingua franca"? And we still have to run Chromium to support it natively?

Re: I ported a JavaScript app to Dart

#12
It's a little bit sad that Google pays people to have their entire job be to astroturf for Dart with blog posts like this one.

Being a "developer advocate" is one thing, writing official documentation, answering questions on forums, whatever — but "I ported a JavaScript app to Dart. Here's what I learned." Seriously? More like "I'm on the Dart Team. I ported a JavaScript app to Dart because it's my job."

Open source shouldn't need to be juiced with paid posts. If you scroll down to the "Lessons learned" section at the end, it really strikes to the core of what being disingenuous is all about.

Re: I ported a JavaScript app to Dart

#13
post #2

I really like Dart. I'm surprised its not getting traction faster. Its a language with few surprises, everything looks familiar and works as you'd expect without gotcha's. While it doesn't feel cutting edge like Haskell or retro on steroids like Clojure, it seems just right as a replacement for Javascript.

"I'm surprised its not getting traction faster" "replacement for Javascript" - doesn't work in other browsers without transpiling. Since it transpiles, it is not a true replacement. Replacing JS it is right direction nevertheless. Better idea would be integrating two major VMs into browsers: Mono and JVM, keeping them evergreen and just letting developers use any programming languages to have an actual open web instead of one we have now.

Re: I ported a JavaScript app to Dart

#14

It's a little bit sad that Google pays people to have their entire job be to astroturf for Dart with blog posts like this one. Being a "developer advocate" is one thing, writing official documentation, answering questions on forums, whatever — but "I ported a JavaScript app to Dart. Here's what I learned." Seriously? More like "I'm on the Dart Team. I ported a JavaScript app to Dart because it's my job." Open source…

Well that's a plain "ad hominem" argument right there sir. I found the post interesting and useful, and the fact that the author works for Google or Apple or Microsoft or Walmart doesn't affect it in the slightest.

Re: I ported a JavaScript app to Dart

#15

It's a little bit sad that Google pays people to have their entire job be to astroturf for Dart with blog posts like this one. Being a "developer advocate" is one thing, writing official documentation, answering questions on forums, whatever — but "I ported a JavaScript app to Dart. Here's what I learned." Seriously? More like "I'm on the Dart Team. I ported a JavaScript app to Dart because it's my job." Open source…

Well that's a plain "ad hominem" argument right there sir. I found the post interesting and useful, and the fact that the author works for Google or Apple or Microsoft or Walmart doesn't affect it in the slightest.

He presents the post as if he was learning something new, when he's really a seasoned Dart expert which has access to resources most of us don't have. Then there's the background that he could cherry pick his project to make the outcome look good, and doing so is in fact his job.

A misleading presentation potentially leading people to false conclusions is worth calling out.

Re: I ported a JavaScript app to Dart

#16
I somewhat skimmed the article, but it doesn't mention the fact the JavaScript is on the verge of getting modules. Unless you really love Dart, you can fix most of these problems by using something like the ES6 module transpiler: https://github.com/square/es6-module-transpiler. Even better, in then next few years JavaScript will start adapting these natively, solving many of the organizational issues laid out in this post.

Re: I ported a JavaScript app to Dart

#17

It's a little bit sad that Google pays people to have their entire job be to astroturf for Dart with blog posts like this one. Being a "developer advocate" is one thing, writing official documentation, answering questions on forums, whatever — but "I ported a JavaScript app to Dart. Here's what I learned." Seriously? More like "I'm on the Dart Team. I ported a JavaScript app to Dart because it's my job." Open source…

Your definition of astroturfing doesn't seem to match mine. Seth states several times on his blog that he works on Dart developer relations at Google. Blogging about Dart is part of his job, and in no way is he being deceiving about that fact.

I on the other hand am simply an engineer on the Dart team, as I must disclaim in this context.

Re: I ported a JavaScript app to Dart

#18

It's a little bit sad that Google pays people to have their entire job be to astroturf for Dart with blog posts like this one. Being a "developer advocate" is one thing, writing official documentation, answering questions on forums, whatever — but "I ported a JavaScript app to Dart. Here's what I learned." Seriously? More like "I'm on the Dart Team. I ported a JavaScript app to Dart because it's my job." Open source…

Your definition of astroturfing doesn't seem to match mine. Seth states several times on his blog that he works on Dart developer relations at Google. Blogging about Dart is part of his job, and in no way is he being deceiving about that fact. I on the other hand am simply an engineer on the Dart team, as I must disclaim in this context.

Where does he mention that other than the sidebar? I completely missed the fact that he works for Google while reading the article since it's never mentioned in the body of the article itself, and the article is written as if he's completely new to Dart and trying it out for fun. If he's not trying to present that image, then it's a really awful writing style.

Re: I ported a JavaScript app to Dart

#19

I somewhat skimmed the article, but it doesn't mention the fact the JavaScript is on the verge of getting modules. Unless you really love Dart, you can fix most of these problems by using something like the ES6 module transpiler: https://github.com/square/es6-module-transpiler . Even better, in then next few years JavaScript will start adapting these natively, solving many of the organizational issues laid out in thi…

Thanks for the feedback. I did point out, in the end of the article, that some of the techniques (e.g. libraries, futures) aren't impossible in JavaScript. And I'm really happy to hear they might be coming to a future version of JavaScript (everyone should have modules and promises!). Part of the point of the article is that Dart has these features now.

Re: I ported a JavaScript app to Dart

#20

It's a little bit sad that Google pays people to have their entire job be to astroturf for Dart with blog posts like this one. Being a "developer advocate" is one thing, writing official documentation, answering questions on forums, whatever — but "I ported a JavaScript app to Dart. Here's what I learned." Seriously? More like "I'm on the Dart Team. I ported a JavaScript app to Dart because it's my job." Open source…

Couldn't it also be the case that he's not doing it because he's paid to, but because he loves Dart? People at Google can move around between projects, and generally, if you're working on a particular project, it's not because you are disinterested in it and simply collecting a paycheck, but you're enthusiastic about it.

This is especially true of developer advocates. No one's whining about all the HTML5 advocacy that Google does on sites like html5rocks.com, do you think the developers that write those articles merely do so because orders came down from above, or because they chose things they thought were exciting or that they were enthusiastic about.

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