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Re:JavaScript web apps considered valuable by smt88 on Thursday January 21, 2016 @10:40AM (#10945890)
> ignorant and prejudiced I'm afraid

Relax. You're talking about someone's opinion of a programming language.

That said, all of your comments come across as ignorant to me. I don't think you're ignorant, though. I think you know JavaScript really well and like it.

I personally found it unusable on the server until TypeScript became mature enough to use. Have you tried TypeScript or some other static-typed, better-defined language (Flow, Clojure, etc.)?

You may love JavaScript, but there's a good reason Facebook, Google, and Microsoft all find it to be unusable and have created compile-to-JavaScript languages so that their companies can be JavaScript-free someday.

Re:JavaScript web apps considered valuable by todd3834 on Thursday January 21, 2016 @10:55AM (#10946029)
I doubt the goal is to be JavaScript free. The compilers typically enhance the language or give you access to functionality that is destined to land in the future JavaScript. ES6+ shows a lot of promise and thanks to Babel we can use those features now.
Re:JavaScript web apps considered valuable by smt88 on Thursday January 21, 2016 @11:05AM (#10946116)
Let me clarify what I mean by "JavaScript-free": they don't want any of their employees writing JavaScript by hand anymore, whether it be ES6, ES2015, or ES2020. TypeScript and Flow are supersets, but Clojure (and many other compile-to-JavaScript languages) are completely different.
Re:JavaScript web apps considered valuable by danneu on Thursday January 21, 2016 @11:09PM (#10950702)
No, they just want some static tooling on top of a dynamic language.

We use Typed Clojure where I work. To say it's because we "don't want to write Clojure by hand anymore" would be nonsense.

Reading your comments in this thread, I think you'll find out one day that people just have different appetites for different trade-offs and that's really all there is to it. No need to wheedle, condescend, or link Paul Graham essays.

Re:JavaScript web apps considered valuable by Wintamute on Thursday January 21, 2016 @12:33PM (#10946785)
Your insider knowledge of the technical policies of Facebook, Google, MS, etc is truly impressive. And ES2020 too? Somebody write this down quick!
Re:JavaScript web apps considered valuable by smt88 on Thursday January 21, 2016 @01:02PM (#10946995)
I understand what it's like to be emotionally invested in a particular language or technology. It's usually a result of not having used something better[1] or just having invested a lot of time into that technology.

The good news is that a lot of programming skills are fungible, and you (like me) will eventually use things you like more than you expected -- perhaps even more than you like JavaScript. The time you invested won't be wasted.

1. http://www.paulgraham.com/avg.html

Re:JavaScript web apps considered valuable by Wintamute on Thursday January 21, 2016 @02:13PM (#10947520)
You assume a lot about me! Don't worry ... I'm 35, I've been around the block, dipped in and out of a few languages and platforms :)

And if we're talking about emotional investment in technology ... I think that's where most of the JS shaming comments we're seeing on this thread are coming from. People feel a bit threatened by it because it seems like it's eating a lot of things at the moment. They'd be better off following your advice and stop sniping at it and take an interest.