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why-javascript.md

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Why I like JavaScript

This readme is more than just "why I like JavaScript" but it also a take on what layers on top of JavaScript I like/not like. In other words this readme will outline my philosphy towards JavaScript programming.

Firtsly, the whys :

  • I like the functional programming aspects where things are objects or functions and functions are first class citizens.
  • I like the loose typing. It is easier to start developing and also scaling.
  • I like the forgiving nature. Missed a ';' - don't worry.
  • I like the speed of V8 - the implementaiton of JS that runs on most browsers.
  • I like the community: you get a library for doing almost anything and set of developers eager to answer your queries.
  • I like asynchrounous programming where things can run parallely while waiting on I/O.

Layers on top of JavaScript

There are couple of different types of layers built on top of JS.

  1. Firstly there are libaries like let's say JQuery, that try to give additional functionality or make using JavaScript easy. I like some of these although JQuery itself has become sort of redundant as most functioanlity is available in the core JavaScript now.
  2. Secondly, there are languages that compile to JavaScript (like TypeScrip) that force additional constraints/style on the programming. I hate these as some of the features of JavaScript I like are washed away.
  3. Then there are backend JS - most notably Node. This is interesting use of JS. I haven't done much of backend JS coding but node seems to popular and well loved. The only issue with node I find is that it moved away from some of the browser type syntax - for example using a package.json rather than specifying the URL in the import syntax. This makes it less user friendly.
  4. Lastly, there are frameworsk both frontend and backend - stuff like Vue, React, Angular, Express etc. These will be useful to build applications fast in a scalable way although I think using a very minimal framework would be ideal especially when build large applications. That ways the constraints of the framewrok do not interfere the development.

In a nut shell, I like stuf that is a simple and minimalistic as possible without deviating too much from the JS that is supported by the browsers out of the box.