Yes, I'm aware of Firebug; it's nice (although it seems to have gotten buggier).

I rarely find syntax a problem though -- javascript syntax is pretty simple. You could probably write a javascript parser in one day, but it would probably take you a month to write a ruby parser.

I can understand not liking JavaScript, but hating it with a passion seems excessive. Do you really hate JavaScript or just having to deal with the issues of incompatible browsers? I prefer languages like Haskell that enforce strong static typing, but as far as runtime typed languages go I think JavaScript is pretty nice.

I'm a big fan of Haskell, too. The type system alone makes it a wonderful language to work in.

On the other hand, mechanically generating the code you've abstracted away will make sure you only get the same bugs every time. ;)

Which leads into the second question: whats wrong with compiling to JavaScript? Compilation is historically (outside of a VM) the only way to write portable code. Most compiled languages have a toolchain that covers compiling, profiling, and debugging, and there is no reason to assume that a language compiled to JavaScript could not have these as well (ex an external profiler might look like dynaTrace Ajax).

You might not like JavaScript, but its all we're going to get. Most people don't like programming x86 assembly, but I don't see them complaining that CPUs need to support a different assembly language.

Pray tell us, why?

http://ejohn.org/apps/learn/ Resig's js tutorial also helped hammer in why people like js and what's so special about it.