
Ask HN: Have we hit peak JavaScript? - dosy
There was a peak .NET, peak Java, and peak C++. JS adoption has exploded, but the language is nearly mature (with TS unlikely to be merged into TC-39 except as optional extra.) Web-Assembly, Rust, Go, are all new and, as much as I enjoy JS, better languages. Not to mention indomitable C.<p>Is JS as universal platform an idea whose time has come, or whose time has passed?
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52-6F-62
I have to preface by asking if you think C#/.NET and C++ are examples of whose
time has passed.

Personally, being an admittedly big fan of C, I still love working with
JavaScript — and I love working with TypeScript on top of that even more.

It's not the end of the world, though. It's one solution to a selection of
problems. Just the same, there are other solutions, and yet other problems
that JavaScript can't solve.

I don't really think it's a question of "peak JavaScript" yet. I think the
question is irrelevant, really.

On another note entirely, I've toyed with Go, but I don't care about it. I
don't find the learning or development curve any quicker than C for me. C's
very pragmatic (admittedly, potentially to a fault)— Go seems to further
obfuscate things. I welcome attempts at conversion, however— it's possible I'm
missing something there.

Rust seems to introduce a novel approach that I can appreciate, but I haven't
done a deep dive. I haven't properly invested in Web Assembly, either, but
that's in part due to the fact that I haven't identified an imminent need to
do so. Sometime soon, probably.

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GordonS
With .NET Core, .NET is seeing more cross-platform adoption - I'm not sure how
you could possibly conclude, now of all times, that the time of C# or .NET has
passed?

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Someone1234
Depends if you define WebAssembly as "JavaScript" or not.

Have the days of hand-writing raw JS peaked? More than likely. Between
TypeScript and other transcompilers, and the impending threat of WebAssembly
being able to consume other languages and output browser executable code.

A project like Microsoft's Blazor[0] might ultimately fail, but that type of
compiled from language to WebAssembly likely is the future. But if you define
WebAssembly as "JavaScript" then I guess we haven't hit peak JS.

[0] [https://github.com/aspnet/Blazor](https://github.com/aspnet/Blazor)

~~~
chacham15
Until WebAssembly can manipulate DOM, its unlikely to gain any significant
amount of adoption. Currently that feature is still in the proposal phase
([https://github.com/WebAssembly/design/issues/1079](https://github.com/WebAssembly/design/issues/1079))
so it seems quite a long way off.

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andyidsinga
I need to ask another couple more questions for which I'll take a try at some
answers:

#1 Are you asking because you're deciding if you should invest time it from a
general "keeping up with technology perspective" ?

or..

#2 Do you have a _specific project_ in mind, and are worried that other
technologies may have eclipsed js, and therefore if you invest in js you would
be wasting time and money?

or..

#3 Do you want to impress someone, and want to do it in a tech that will
garner a certain wow factor.

If #1, I don't have a clear and concise answer to this -- its effectively
FOMO. I've had this urge in the past; I think what's embedded in the original
question is you don't want to use js becuase you already have a perception
that it's peaked. So just pick something else like Webassembly, Rust, Go or
another framework de-jour and enjoy the exercise. Just try to keep the
enjoyment level above the FOMO level :)

If #2, I would say js has not peaked ..just like many languages could meet the
needs of a specific project. Look at your tools, abilities, team composition
(if you have one) and decide on a set of tools that will allow you to meet
your project objectives in a short amount of time (a la lean methods)

If #3, pick something exotic to your audience ..and then be able to describe
the ups/downs in great detail after you wow them ..or fail to wow them with a
big catastrophic fail ..either way, focus on the pyrotechnic show :)

PS. there is no universal platform and NEVER will be :) :) :)

(edit typos/formatting)

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skylark
I think the excitement around using JavaScript as a server runtime has peaked.
If you search for node/express on Google Trends, you'll notice the interest
leveled off about a year ago. This matches up with my own personal experience
- engineers seem more willing to weigh the tradeoffs associated with using
JavaScript on the server vs. using other frameworks like Flask, Ruby on Rails,
Django, or SAAS offerings like Firebase and Google App Engine. There's a lot
more maturity there than there was a few years ago.

I doubt that JavaScript on the web client is going anywhere. While wasm is
interesting, it's still not really ready for prime time. These days if you're
a frontend web engineer, you're forced to use JavaScript or a transpiles-to-
JavaScript language.

The interest in JavaScript as a mobile runtime is still exploding. Searches
for React Native have only been increasing over the years and shows no signs
of slowing down. Compare this to iOS swift, which is trending down in
popularity.

If you're wondering whether the JavaScript ecosystem is still a useful one to
learn, I wholeheartedly believe it's not going anywhere for the foreseeable
future.

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skrebbel
I'd argue that in more ways than not, TypeScript _is_ JavaScript. They're
following the spec (plus some proposals, admittedly) _precisely_.

Of course there's some practical differences between writing TS and JS, in
terms of stuff like tool support, but it's really the same language. Any
architecture or algorithm you'd design in either would turn out the same. Not
similar, the same.

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ronilan
No peak JS in sight.

But, on a historical note, 2018 will probably go down as the year of “peak
WordPress”.

All “patch” releases, nothing else:
[https://wordpress.org/news/category/releases/](https://wordpress.org/news/category/releases/)

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darpa_escapee
Cross-language compilation to web assembly has the problem of needing to
distribute runtimes for each language. In that aspect, JavaScript will still
be the dominant scripting language of the web.

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wheelerwj
lol.

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lupinglade
Let's hope so!

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velmu
JavaScript has lost it's monopoly for browsers:
[https://medium.com/@velmu/javascript-s-heyday-as-the-only-
br...](https://medium.com/@velmu/javascript-s-heyday-as-the-only-browser-
language-is-over-8d3c0c995309?source=linkShare-87350e1fddab-1532798690)

