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Imba: A new programming language for web apps

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Re: Imba: A new programming language for web apps

#111

Post by such_a_casual »

qwertyuiop924 wrote: post #52
aeze wrote: post #29

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You know your examples were/are considered new languages at one point, right?

yeah, but I feel they have a reason to exist. Clojure exists because it has interesting ideas about immutability, and is a lisp. Elm exists because FP. This exists because... Why? They thought we needed a new syntax for JSX? They thought we needed another language that was kind of like coffescript, but different in subtle ways? I don't know, and I can't see what this is bringing to the table.

Then don't use it? There's no reason to bash on anyone for making something, even if it's absolutely useless:

https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=10758290

Re: Imba: A new programming language for web apps

#112

Post by psykovsky »

mrgoldenbrown wrote: post #44
psykovsky wrote: post #23

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I get a little confused when people say they "compile" x scripting language into y scripting language.

Are you trying to be snarky or are you actually confused? Check out the wikipedia article on Transpilers for info on source to source compilers.

I know. Not trying to be snarky at all. Why don't people call stuff by it's names??? Transpiling, not compiling.

Maybe it looks like I'm nitpicking... If it got across like that, sorry. Not my intention at all.

Re: Imba: A new programming language for web apps

#113

Post by psykovsky »

nv-vn wrote: post #51
psykovsky wrote: post #23

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I get a little confused when people say they "compile" x scripting language into y scripting language.

What would you call it other than "compiling"?

Transpiling, as said above. Or maybe transpiling is compiling. I think I'll get out of it more confused than going in.

Re: Imba: A new programming language for web apps

#114

Post by jestar_jokin »

ianamartin wrote: post #109

I have a backlog of personal projects of various kinds that I have been tinkering with for years now. But since I'm a back end guy, that's what I normally work on when I have free time. Every time I decide that I'm going to take the plunge and get down and dirty with front end stuff, I get completely paralyzed by choice, and I end up deciding that the most sensible way for me to move forward is to learn the fundament…

- Don't worry, there's only a few different paradigms in use by the different libraries and frameworks out there. Just look at the examples and see which one piques your interest.

- Do some analysis to break down your problem into manageable steps, until you reach steps small enough to action. For example, a task tracking board might have the following components: columns (representing "status"), drag and drop (which changes the position of some DOM elements, plus updates the task status), and a form (to capture the task status). So, look for ways to solve each of those problems. e.g. column might be made easier using a grid layout system, such as provided by Bootstrap. Drag and drop can be handled using HTML5 features. And form handling can be made easier (or fancier) using any number of libraries out there.

I wouldn't jump on a brand new language for the purpose of solving a problem, if you don't have a clear idea of the solution you would like to implement. Writing code is a means to an end, not a goal itself. It'd be easier to write a solution using methods you're familiar with, then rewriting it using different technologies.

Re: Imba: A new programming language for web apps

#116

Post by estefan »

marknutter wrote: post #104
estefan wrote: post #25

All these languages du jour should go out of their way to answer the question: "why bother?". 10x faster than react. OK cool. Except unless it has something like react native it's irrelevant if you might want to write an app in future with any sort of code reuse since you'll be tied to the web (unless you want the inevitable world-of-pain of trying to integrate this preprocessor into your xcode/android builds...).

The React core team themselves admit that React Native is not about code-reuse, but instead what they call "learn-once-read-everywhere" To require that all javaScript web frameworks compile down to native app code is ridiculous.

It might not be about code reuse, but there will be things that can be ported, just not the DOM stuff (e.g. redux/flux logic, other UI-independent business logic).

I get the whole "because it's fun" reason - just make it clear that that's the motivation, and don't give the impression it's a serious React competitor if it has major shortcomings.

I'm fatigued by the continual "x times faster than React" libraries, as if that really matters. As with all the language/framework debates it comes down to the ecosystem. Raw speed just doesn't cut it for me.

Re: Imba: A new programming language for web apps

#117

Post by manyoso »

wnevets wrote: post #98
manyoso wrote: post #79

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It was designed from the very beginning by Eich to look like Java and not because subsequent people tried to "fix" it. Where are you getting this stuff?

ES2015 just added the class keyword to make it look like java last year. IIRC the new keyword wasn't part of javascript in those first two weeks when javascript was released. Where are you getting this stuff?

The point is that Eich made Javascript use syntax and idioms from Java from the very beginning and it wasn't just later evolution of the language to "fix" it that did this.

Re: Imba: A new programming language for web apps

#118

Post by vardump »

estefan wrote: post #116
marknutter wrote: post #104

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The React core team themselves admit that React Native is not about code-reuse, but instead what they call "learn-once-read-everywhere" To require that all javaScript web frameworks compile down to native app code is ridiculous.

It might not be about code reuse, but there will be things that can be ported, just not the DOM stuff (e.g. redux/flux logic, other UI-independent business logic). I get the whole "because it's fun" reason - just make it clear that that's the motivation, and don't give the impression it's a serious React competitor if it has major shortcomings. I'm fatigued by the continual "x times faster than React" libraries, as i…

Raw speed, aka better battery life.

I avoid (to some extent) apps and websites that consume a lot of phone/laptop battery. Like Quora and many popular newspaper websites.

Re: Imba: A new programming language for web apps

#119

Post by ryanSrich »

ianamartin wrote: post #109

I have a backlog of personal projects of various kinds that I have been tinkering with for years now. But since I'm a back end guy, that's what I normally work on when I have free time. Every time I decide that I'm going to take the plunge and get down and dirty with front end stuff, I get completely paralyzed by choice, and I end up deciding that the most sensible way for me to move forward is to learn the fundament…

For pet projects my advice would be a RESTful Angular Front-end and some styling framework like bootstrap or foundation. If it's a legit project I'd recommend hooking up with a Front-end developer and/or a designer/dev.

Re: Imba: A new programming language for web apps

#120

Post by biggestbob »

golergka wrote: post #5

To all people who reply negatively to this: don't you guys actually like learning new languages? Why?

Because 98% is bullshit. Get very interested, have fun, learn, prototype, things look fine, then after start use seriously and depend on makes you so much pain and problem. Then have to fix, and patch and in the end: always remove. After you have this experience many times you will also very critical and have high expectation/requirement, then you will come to HN and reply negatively.
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