12 ms·

JS is easy, JS ecosystem is not.

bibyte 7y ago
Good point. But I don't think a complete beginner would use complex JS frameworks.
tonyedgecombe 7y ago
There are plenty of sharp edges in JavaScript to cut yourself on. For that reason I'd argue it isn't easy. Compare it to something like C# where you could start pushing out code on day one. It might not be pretty or the most efficient code but there won't be any surprises, it will do what you expect.
- gbugniot 7y ago
  Yes of course, like in any other programming languages.
gbuk2013 7y ago
I would say JS is simple, but it’s not easy. :) I love the language - it is earning me a comfortable income and I am very productive in it, but it requires experience and iron code discipline not to let it bite you!
- foobarbecue 7y ago
  Don't you mean that it's easy, but not simple?
  - gbuk2013 7y ago
    No, otherwise I would have written it that way. ;)
    - foobarbecue 7y ago
      Well, then I strongly disagree. Modern JS is very easy to write, but extremely complex because of all the leftover cruft. For example, a beginner can declare a varible with let, const, var or (what could be easier) nothing at all. The resulting scoping rules, however, are anything but simple.
      - gbuk2013 7y ago
        I don't think it's complex at all. The scoping rules are very simple. Block scoping just added another piece. The difficulty is that there are many simple things like this to learn and to combine in a safe and maintainable manner for anything other than trivial programs. Out of the box, the language does nothing to discourage bad coding practices (some might say it even encourages them). It's the flip-side of being such an accessible language. It is possible write JS in a way that avoids a lot of the complexity, but it requires experience and discipline and some tooling, just to be sure. The code will look simple but it is not an easy thing to do.
        foobarbecue 7y ago
        Programming is mostly the practice of reading code rather than writing, and this is where the complexity is felt.

Good point. But I don't think a complete beginner would use complex JS frameworks.

There are plenty of sharp edges in JavaScript to cut yourself on. For that reason I'd argue it isn't easy. Compare it to something like C# where you could start pushing out code on day one. It might not be pretty or the most efficient code but there won't be any surprises, it will do what you expect.

gbugniot 7y ago
Yes of course, like in any other programming languages.

gbuk2013 7y ago

I would say JS is simple, but it’s not easy. :) I love the language - it is earning me a comfortable income and I am very productive in it, but it requires experience and iron code discipline not to let it bite you!

foobarbecue 7y ago
Don't you mean that it's easy, but not simple?
- gbuk2013 7y ago
  No, otherwise I would have written it that way. ;)
  - foobarbecue 7y ago
    Well, then I strongly disagree. Modern JS is very easy to write, but extremely complex because of all the leftover cruft. For example, a beginner can declare a varible with let, const, var or (what could be easier) nothing at all. The resulting scoping rules, however, are anything but simple.
    - gbuk2013 7y ago
      I don't think it's complex at all. The scoping rules are very simple. Block scoping just added another piece. The difficulty is that there are many simple things like this to learn and to combine in a safe and maintainable manner for anything other than trivial programs. Out of the box, the language does nothing to discourage bad coding practices (some might say it even encourages them). It's the flip-side of being such an accessible language. It is possible write JS in a way that avoids a lot of the complexity, but it requires experience and discipline and some tooling, just to be sure. The code will look simple but it is not an easy thing to do.
      - foobarbecue 7y ago
        Programming is mostly the practice of reading code rather than writing, and this is where the complexity is felt.