7 ms·

I wrote my first website in 1995 and started using Javascript in 1996 (only I think it was called Livescript back then)? I was not impressed. On the client sid

I wrote my first website in 1995 and started using Javascript in 1996 (only I think it was called Livescript back then)? I was not impressed. On the client side I would use it for very few things and when I tried the server side version I decided that I would rather stick with Perl and CGI. Although I did not like Perl, I could get things done with it. (Oh, I just remember: also Cold Fusion!) My opinion of Javascript has not improved over the years. I worked with Javascript for a while and in complex enough problems that my name ended up on 2-3 patents and patent applications. I no longer work on the web, but I have occasional need for Javascript and I always hate my time with it. This will be an unpopular opinion, but frankly I am perplexed by its popularity, because it is neither simple nor elegant.

phillipkang 7y ago
I think the accessibility of web browsers and npm allowed the JavaScript ecosystem to explode, hence it's staying power.
jiofih 7y ago
Why do you hate it? It’s one of the friendliest languages in current use, a nice mix of OO and FP, with top-notch tooling everywhere, and incredible performance for an interpreted language.
8bitsrule 7y ago
> I think it was called Livescript back then)? As Encyclopedia Brittanica (!! who'd have thought) puts it, JavaScript was developed in 1995 at Netscape Communications Corp. and was conceived of as a companion to Java. It was originally called Mocha and then LiveScript before Netscape received a marketing license from Sun.[0] And then it became 'a dialect of ECMAScript'... [0] https://www.britannica.com/technology/JavaScript https://www.britannica.com/technology/JavaScript
gwbas1c 7y ago
> This will be an unpopular opinion, but frankly I am perplexed by its popularity, because it is neither simple nor elegant. If you're going to do in browser development, what choice so you have? I can understand server-side JavaScript, mostly to avoid cognitive load from learning two languages. Otherwise, I think WebAssembly is a lot more promising of a technology.

phillipkang 7y ago

I think the accessibility of web browsers and npm allowed the JavaScript ecosystem to explode, hence it's staying power.

jiofih 7y ago

Why do you hate it? It’s one of the friendliest languages in current use, a nice mix of OO and FP, with top-notch tooling everywhere, and incredible performance for an interpreted language.

8bitsrule 7y ago

> I think it was called Livescript back then)? As Encyclopedia Brittanica (!! who'd have thought) puts it, JavaScript was developed in 1995 at Netscape Communications Corp. and was conceived of as a companion to Java. It was originally called Mocha and then LiveScript before Netscape received a marketing license from Sun.[0] And then it became 'a dialect of ECMAScript'... [0] https://www.britannica.com/technology/JavaScript https://www.britannica.com/technology/JavaScript

gwbas1c 7y ago

> This will be an unpopular opinion, but frankly I am perplexed by its popularity, because it is neither simple nor elegant. If you're going to do in browser development, what choice so you have? I can understand server-side JavaScript, mostly to avoid cognitive load from learning two languages. Otherwise, I think WebAssembly is a lot more promising of a technology.