
The Lie That Has Beguiled a Generation of Developers - berserker-one
https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/lie-has-beguiled-generation-developers-richard-eng
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stevetrewick
> _It is, thus, risible that so many young people are entering the IT industry
> via the JavaScript route._

What's actually risible is ignoring the fact that programming skills are
hugely transferable between languages. I'm not much of a JS fan personally but
JS encompasses a pretty good slice of programming paradigms : first class
functions, callbacks/CPS, async, oop, etc. I'm struggling to see how having a
bunch of young programmers familiar with these concepts entering the industry
could be bad.

I recall similar tutting back in the 80s about a whole generation being brain
damaged by learning BASIC on micros. That generation did pretty well out of it
as it turned out.

~~~
berserker-one
Maybe because JavaScript encourages bad habits? It's a very sloppy and
undisciplined language, esp. with its loose typing, crazy coercions and wildly
inconsistent semantics. This language has far more "warts" than any other
programming language in wide use today. Jeff Walker calls it a "minefield":
[http://walkercoderanger.com/blog/2014/02/javascript-
minefiel...](http://walkercoderanger.com/blog/2014/02/javascript-minefield)

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coreyp_1
I see it as a very powerful language, which is why it is so easy to mess
something up if you don't know what you are doing.

Think of a carpenter. A hand saw is much, much safer than a table saw, but if
you mess up, you might have just lost a finger or two. If you're teaching a
kid to work with wood, you let him use the hand saw, not the table saw, for
obvious reasons. Programming languages can be interpreted in the same vein.

Most of the article came across as condescending. I see JavaScript as being a
language that is only just now realizing it's true potential. Web 2.0 was
"coined" 17 years ago, and truly got people's attention 12 years ago.
Javascript in the browser, of course, predates that by half a decade. Node.js
only showed up 6 years ago, and has only recently gained traction in the last
3 years (IMO).

In other words, OF COURSE there's going to be more front-end jobs for JS...
it's had a 2-decade runway!!! Node, OTOH, is just now finding its feet in
potential applications. That doesn't make me point at it and scoff, but rather
to say "this is where the innovation will be!"

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pedalpete
Could the reason JS jobs are less plentiful than java is because there are
more JS developers? The jobs get filled more quickly?

As far as 'don’t expect any serious shop to be washing their critical Business
Intelligence data through JS code', that may be correct, but then there's this
[https://www.quora.com/What-companies-are-using-Node-js-in-
pr...](https://www.quora.com/What-companies-are-using-Node-js-in-production)

~~~
berserker-one
Of course, some businesses are using Node and JS, but are they using them for
mission-critical enterprise work? Node and JS are great for web UI and mobile
stuff, and applications of relatively modest size, but for really serious
shit? I don't think so.

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kdkooo
This raises some really good points! Though I think there is something to be
said for a language that is so easy for newcomers to learn and see results.

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paulddraper
Doesn't LinkedIn use Node.js?

~~~
robgibbons
Yep. So does Wal-Mart.

~~~
paulddraper
LinkedIn is significantly more relevant though, since this is their blog.

