Re:JavaScript is Not Web Assembly
by IsaacSchlueter on Thursday September 15, 2011 @02:31AM
(#2999101)
A compiler that did an 'identity compilation' on a strict
subset of real JavaScript, and rejected any problematic
or confusing constructs would have value.
It would only be a linter if it weren't a compiler. If it compiles language X to language X, it's a compiler. Because it compiles. Rule of thumb: if it compiles, it's a compiler, not a linter. Simple. Like ducks.
What if it compiles language X to language Y, where Y is the union of all the valid programs in X with a set of possible descriptive error strings?
Correct. That doesn't make CoffeeScript->JavaScript like C->assembly. In fact, it supports the idea that it's like C++->C. C++ provides stronger type checking than C and provides different syntax for things like constructors, heap allocation, etc.
CoffeeScript->JavaScript is a little like C++->C but it is more like Eiffel->C because CoffeeScript makes no attempt to compile any valid JavaScript.
This is important because C++ is damaged by the attempts to provide C source compatibility.
CoffeeScript goes further than that and provides different syntax.
One of the things that complicates C++ is the requirement for source code compatibility with C. This necessarily requires preservation of confusing quirks.
CoffeeScript is not source code compatible with JavaScript.