The immediate question I had was: "compiles JS to *what*"? Apparently the answer... | Hacker News

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rntz on Feb 10, 2017 | parent | context | favorite | on: Show HN: A self-hosted js compiler in 1k loc

The immediate question I had was: "compiles JS to what"?

Apparently the answer is: to Javascript. It's what some call a transpiler: it compiles Javascript plus some extra features down to a more "vanilla" Javascript (es5?). I tend to dislike the term transpiler (transpilers are just compilers that target high-level languages), but I guess in this case the term would have helped me understand what was meant!

ThisIs_MyName on Feb 10, 2017 | [–]

I prefer "source-to-source compiler": https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Source-to-source_compiler

hasperdi on Feb 10, 2017 | [–]

Yeah, it was the same question I had in mind. The README.md does not do a good job of explaining it.

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