We're into lap 21 and Node.js features have again overtaken those attempting to teach it The popularity of Node.js has caught its community by surprise and left its stewards scrambling to find a way to keep developers up to date with the rapidly changing technology. Node.js, a JavaScript runtime environment that allows developers to write JavaScript code for both client and server applications, has been thriving …
>>Go learn Java.
Why would I do that? It takes hundreds of lines of code and a massively complicated build/link environment just to say "Hello World", it is pointlessly obsessed with everything being an object even for tasks when a procedural approach would be WAAY more efficient, and I can't run Java programs on my budget web hosting service.
If you want to work in Big Corporate Data Land, sure, go learn Java. That's not the market that Node and other web-type technologies are trying to address - as is well explained in the article. If Java really was the ideal solution for all programming jobs, it would have replaced everything else by now - gawd knows it's had long enough. The fact that alternatives proliferate indicates the flaw in your argument.
I don't use Node, precisely because of the bootstrap-learning issues which the article highlights. But because of the kind of work I do, I'm far more likely to use Node at some point in the future than Java.
<dons tin hat in anticipation of many downvotes>
The snark about Node and server-side JavaScript is, presumably, from people who have either never used it or have never gone much beyond tutorials.
I'm a ten-plus year veteran of enterprise .Net (C#), and also develop using Go, Python, Ruby and Node. I practice IOC, love TDD, follow SOLID, use patterns and so forth (though I detest the terms). And I'm anything but a script kiddy, given that I lead teams of Senior Developers.
And I'm telling you that whilst JavaScript/Node has it's flaws - as do most ecosystems/languages - if you dismiss it without giving it a fair go you are a close-minded snob who deserves to become the tech dinosaur you inevitably will.
It has it's faults and doesn't suit all purposes (e.g. heavy computation) but neither do your precious alternatives. I prefer C# and Go, but I'll defend Node from uninformed idiots.
Came from a Spring project to start a NodeJS project here. I hated Spring, seemed like I spent half my time grepping for AOP annotations in XML files (I hear it's better now, with annotations).
Everything in Java is *so* heavy. Strong typing is meant to reduce bugs, but most bugs have to do with poor assumptions and a lack of thought to performance. I would wager 90% of Java projects still use generics incorrectly, with plenty of casts scattered throughout the code.
Javascript is tricky to master (if you can ever), but with the new ES6 syntax and features is has become very, very, powerful (on a level with Python).
I have been a Java developer since the v1.1.8 days (and still write my UI tests in Groovy), but I would never want to go back in a big way.
Go, Ruby AND Node? You have so much to answer for. If i ever have fix another shitty ruby app it will be too soon.
"tech dinosaur" Love it! "You ain't using the latest buzzwords you DINOSAUR" Just wait till some child laughs at you and says "no one uses Javascript anymore, Granddad."
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