

JavaScript, The Final Frontier - alexandros
http://resin.io/javascript-the-final-frontier/

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skrebbel
Look, everything looks like a nail! Let's use that screwdriver over there as a
hammer.

~~~
twerquie
I don't think you understand how that metaphor works... are you trying to say
that every problem is the same and developers choose wildly different tools
for the job?

~~~
Iftheshoefits
I think the commenter is taking a dig at the result of Atwood's Law in
application here.

Maybe somebody should coin a new "Law". Something like, "The fact that
something can (and apparently therefore will) be programmed in JavaScript
doesn't mean that it will be (useful|performant|efficient|high-quality)."

I happen to agree with him. Just because something can be written in
JavaScript doesn't make it a "good idea" for certain domains.

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agentultra
I'm still rather amazed that there is such a term as, "hardware hacking." And
that it is considered _magical_. I grew up with computers where programming
them was what you did with them. They were hardware. You had to learn at least
a little bit of programming to get them to do anything at all.

Which was rather annoying and not terribly empowering for anybody but those
interested in programming computers. Due to economics of scale in computing
the computers I knew when I started programming have faded into the background
and have been replaced by appliances that run apps. Today there are
programmers who have years of experience who couldn't tell me what the size of
a pointer is on their machine or how a program is executed by the operating
system. Javascript is so far removed from the concerns of addressing schemes,
allocations and registers that it's fun seeing people move into low-power
computers from this point of view as if it's the most natural thing in the
world.

We live in frightfully exciting times.

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talles
I guess I'll step aside the js dominance discussion for now.

Just wanna say what a delightful article.

------
gesman
Devices thrive through native, strongly typed, compiled languages, because
both are fast and need each other to make each other happy.

Programmers thrive through interpreted languages because it is fast to learn
and allows boss and his programmers to craft something quickly to show up for
their effort.

~~~
ahoge
> _interpreted languages_

Being interpreted is an implementation detail. For example, V8 (Chrome's JS
engine) doesn't have an interpreter. It compiles to (quick and dirty) machine
code right off the bat. Later, the "hot" parts are compiled to better more
optimized machine code.

There are also several C interpreters.

------
lysa
Small steps towards this:
[http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0387808/](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0387808/)

------
_random_
I find it amazing that programming language regress is considered a progress.

------
vfclists
When is this JavaScript idiocy going to end? Is there some kind of conspiracy
on HN and reddit where every other day somebody comes along to sing
JavaScript's praises? The language has been around for donkey's years and yet
every other day we get an announcement about some new square plug has been
made to fit into a Javascript round hole.

I mean if JavaScript is so wonderful then why haven't all the important things
which could and should have been accomplished with it been done by now? This
madness must end.

The amount of time a younger and current generation of programmers have spent
futzing around JavaScript simply borders on a cruel, criminal and wastful
abuse of their time and talent. So much time trying to solve programs which
were fixed in other languages ages ago __and inadequately so __, simply
because it is 1 an interpreter, 2 it is the only one running in the browser
(aka THE universal platform)

If Google, Microsoft et al in their desire to rent software, hang on to users
data and whatnots are willing to persist with it that's fine, but why should
acquiescence to their agenda lead to slavish fanboyism at the altar of
Javascript?

Sorry if I have derailed someone's thread or pooped someone's party but the
sheer impedance mismatch of this development platform drives me nuts.

~~~
gagege
Javascript is ubiquitous on the web. That is a huge advantage it has over
other languages. People started using it to do cool things on the web, which
is great. "Hey, Javascript is not so bad" is the correct sentiment.

But, I also agree with you. Are people only using it everywhere because it's
what they know, or am I missing something that proves it's actually the right
tool for all these jobs?

I like Javascript, but every time I see people go gaga over some choppy
implementation of 1995 technology in Javascript, I have to laugh.

~~~
_random_
JS is like a common cold - annoying, commonplace and still not cured. I mean
some diseases are worth than cold, so JS is not so bad.

~~~
gagege
I have _my_ solution to the problem: Haxe. I write my server and client in the
same language as I write my games and other desktop software.

Also, guess what? It's all native code.

Seriously, why don't more people use Haxe? It's amazing.

~~~
_random_
It looks great, but: no ReSharper, I don't like JS transpilers, no way my
employer will switch to something obscure. Promoting new languages is hard,
even Google has a lot of trouble promoting Go and Dart.

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camus2
Isnt Resin a server ? maybe you should look for another name , branding
collision is never good for new products.

~~~
darkandbrooding
Your memory is correct.

[http://www.caucho.com/resin-web-server/](http://www.caucho.com/resin-web-
server/)

[http://www.caucho.com/resin-application-
server-2/](http://www.caucho.com/resin-application-server-2/)

