How Many More Programming Languages Do We Need?
If you were to as Rockerfeller of Standard Oil how much money was enough legend has his reply as, “just a little more.” Somehow it feels like that is our answer with programming languages and frameworks. Rather than complete them, we find the holes, and simply start a whole new plan of our own.
I presented Microsoft’s response to Dart, TypeScript, yesterday as yet another language. In this case, it is kind of a wrapper to JavaScript, allowing you to use C# like syntax that is later translated (compiled) into JavaScript code. I can see how it could simplify the tool set a developer has to learn.
Louis considers this syntactic surgar.
Static typing with compile type advantages but no run type optimizations is no more than syntactical sugar. If I was going to take the effort to learn something new, I would prefer something like Dart. Much more risky but no half-waters.
So I go compare it to Dart and find that it also has the ability to translate to JavaScript. However, unlike TypeScript, it has the ability to be compiled and comes with a true VM based on Dart. Chromium also includes a vm supporting Dart. Other browsers have not yet released any intent to support the Dart vm. Since it can be translated into JavaScript, you can have both worlds.
Dart, C#, Java, and TypeScript appear- very similar…even in syntax. So, why don’t we simply enable one or more of the existing languages in the browser rather than coming up with new languages that are not supported by all browsers anyway? At this point, I find it interesting that JavaScript is as widely supported across browsers.
I guess I’m a little crazy to be tired of all this. I think it is simply with too much money looking for something to do. Why not leave a comment and confirm my craziness, or even send an email to btaylor@sswug.org.
Cheers,
Ben
$$SWYNK$$
Featured Article(s)
Using Hosting Etiquette to Close the Deal
You’re hosting your boss or a client at a business lunch – what can you does to really make a good impression and seal the deal? Hosting Etiquette is same in most cases. Beyond the regular things you might do, review the following and see what you think:
Featured White Paper(s)
How to Use SQL Server’s Extended Events and Notifications to Proactively Resolve Performance Issues
read more)