JavaScript is everywhere. So are we all OK with that?

Javascript is the VB6 of the 2010's

Just because something is popular does not mean that is better. Javascript does have some strengths (closures) that make it attractive for some uses, but in general Javascript has a number of big nuances that make it unsuitable for projects that require long term maintenance or are of significant complexity. It is, like VB6, extremely accessible and supported by a wide ecosystem of tools and technologies. But it does not have long term future (long term like C, C++ or Perl)

Javascript was created out of the desire to make web pages dynamic and have a low learning barrier, not as a system level, server level or any kind of serious usage.

My biggest pet peeves: lack of proper modularization and scoping at higher levels, lack of proper multithreading constructs and being typeless. The first prevents any serious development of components, the second any serious system level development and the third prevents any serious large scale systems. And by serious I mean robust enough to withstand the test of time.

None of that means that it can't be done in Javascript, just means that it will take way more time and effort than doing it than with some other alternative. Yes, there are some large JS component libraries (jQuery), some dare to write server side (Node.js), and even some attempt to write Office like apps (Google Docs) But all these suffer from problems of stability, integration, performance and pale in front of rivals created in other languages better designed.

And also none of that matters in the web world, where (a) Javascript is the only universally available client side language so you don't have anything else to choose and (b) the most common course of action is to rewrite things from scratch from time to time. But trying to make an argument from this about JS being good outside client side web pages is... plain wrong.

And don't even get me started in PHP....

JS is like C++

In that, yes it is awesomely great and powerful, and you can make gloriously beautiful code with it.

The most important word in that sentence is "can". Most users of JS don't, however.

The style of JS is largely driven by the framework you are using. JS written for Prototype will look wildly different to JS written for jQuery, which again will look wildly different to "stock" ECMAscript.

Oh dear

> Mostly everyone loves (or at least likes) JavaScript..

hahahahahahaha

Why do I have NoScript?

I hate going to a site that comes up as a blank, having to go to the NoScript control, and find that page has javascript for 2 million different web sites on it. Or visiting newspaper sites that only display content with the help of javascript (then I often find w3m works just fine).

I HATE JavaScript

with a passion!

I hate its chaotic coding style.

I hate its loosely typed Objects.

I regard it as a 'lazy language'.

I just can't my head around, or get on with, it at all.

But since our workplace will be replacing our current front ends with it, I guess I will have to force myself to get used to it.

Oh and not to mention its still totally inaccessible to Screen Readers and alike, but no one cares, so much for WAI a?

Crap!

I have 30+ years as a professional software engineer. I have been studying JavaScript lately and all I can say is this - GAH! From whay I have heard, it was originally written by one guy on one day, and it shows! I'd reather hammer a nail in my head than use it, but it seems in this age of web-insanity, it is necessary! I think I may write an alternative language for web development - something that makes some sense! I like php to some extent (it is more-or-less object oriented), but it is also a bit of a kluge. I used it to build a mobile phone web browser emulator, and had to fix some serious bugs that I posted to the development groups, and had them say "not a bug"... right! That and $5 will get you a nice latte at Starbucks!

Mostly this programmer HATES javascript.

apart from that no comment

I used to hate JS when I was younger and not as wise; but with time I've come to realise that most of the times it's not the language that's schizo, it's the way it's been employed. JS has been much maligned because in the hands of web designers, it became what happens to a hyperactive 5yo with a bunch of Lego and superglue.

Now, with Crockford's book and a careful re-examination of the language and the approach to using it, I've come to appreciate it, especially when used in the context of Node. Yes it still has it's WTF moments ( https://www.destroyallsoftware.com/talks/wat ) but every language does. All that's required to make it shine is a considered and careful approach.

If we had Python in the browser

Then the web would be a much better place.

"If I was just getting started in programming, and I didn't know what language to pick...."

I wouldn't pick JavaScript because I would not know it existed.

I'd more likely pick Visual Basic because I've heard of that in school.

Of course, if I were a somewhat enlightened individual I would use the web (who am I kidding? I'd Google it) and search for "programming language", intent on finding what is the best language for beginners.

And I'd probably end up choosing Visual Basic anyway, once I had been allowed to leave the hospital after my trauma treatment of having read all the bile that is thrown around on everyone else's programming language and had managed to decide to learn programming in spite of all the hate, condescendence and mockery that abounds when commenting programming languages.

But I doubt that a beginner programmer is going to go for JavaScript since JavaScript is nothing without a browser and HTML, CSS and probably PHP, and all that is a bit much for someone who doesn't even know Hello World yet.

Actionscript just repurposes Javascript!?!?!?!

Not at all, I work in Banking and implement Flex based trading systems and Javascript/Chromium based Trading systems. I can tell you for nothing that AS3 is a completely superior language to JavaScript. It is strongly typed and has more in common with Java than it does javaScript. True AS3 is a dynamic language, supports functional programming, and can be used like a scripting language. But AS3 is so much more.

It is sad that the industry is casting aside AS3 - things like TypeScript profess to bring to Javascript some of the power of AS3 - but this author quite clearly has not worked with ActionScript - or at the very least has not done so since AS1 & AS2.

ECMAScript is the name; JavaScript is a quaint old sentimental name we can't give up

These days, 'JavaScript' is just a quaint old sentimental name that proves how stupid marketing morons (versus marketing mavens) can be when the put their minds to it. It was invented by Netscape as 'Mocha', changed to 'LiveScript', then renamed 'JavaScript' after some jerks from Sun Microsystems and Netscape decided it would be RadiKewl to make it sound like 'Java', the Sun programming language, despite having no relationship to it whatsoever.

Then 'JavaScript' went mongrel and has remained that way ever since. Microsoft vomited in their own code, imaginatively called 'JScript'. Adobe egested their own code, called 'ActionScript'. Chaos ensued. Ecma International took control of the situation and hammered out an actual standard, officially called ECMAScript. 'JavaScript' refers only to the original old source core of ECMAScript.

Meanwhile, despite ECMAScript being a standard, even more mongrel code calls are consistently mated into the mess, causing no two web browsers to consistently render ECMAScript the same, returning us back into a state of chaos.

The Biggest Fattest Problem with ECMAScript has always been security. There isn't any. Enough said.

All sooo angry...

A lot of talk on here about jQuery, YUI etc. and not much mention of some of the better frameworks coming out, employing MVC design pattern, well structured code, file organisation and a huge emphasis placed on TDD (see angularjs, backbone etc) which I think might be the driving factor behind this resurgence.

Good web development still espouses progressive enhancement/graceful degradation and should work without javascript as stated by many angry individuals. Unfortunately most users aren't as well versed as the readership here and will want to know "why doesn't this site have an amazing fade effect on submitting the form before presenting me with a friendly success message like my favourite site does and why does the WHOLE PAGE reload? which is clunky and ugh and I'm going to use a different service."

As for the person who wants to review my code before he allows his browser to download it, it will have been concatenated and pushed through yuicompress to improve download time, so enjoy sifting through that.