Kotlin is like TypeScript

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	Kotlin is like TypeScript (gi-no.github.io)
	32 points by yoshiokatsuneo 3322 days ago

12 comments

COil 3322 days ago

I think we get it, every languages are like Kotlin!

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toppy 3322 days ago

Quite opposite - Kotlin is like every language ;)

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realharo 3322 days ago

TypeScript has structural typing, that is a HUGE difference.

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boubiyeah 3322 days ago

Yes, that would be its biggest differentiator.

Scala has it too indeed, but it's not the default mode and feels awkward, also has known limitations.

The nice thing with typescript is that structural typing makes sense for 90% of the use cases, and for the remaining 10%, you can very easily simulate nominal typing by adding a field like so:

interface Robot { __Robot: true }

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realharo 3322 days ago

>interface Robot { __Robot: true }

I would much prefer if they just added a new keyword to the language, instead of hacks like this.

https://github.com/Microsoft/TypeScript/issues/202

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seanmcdirmid 3322 days ago

Ya, I'm not away of any other popular OO language that goes this route. The implications of structural sub-typing are huge, though I guess many programmers wouldn't be able to call it out.

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atemerev 3322 days ago

Scala has it. With Shapeless, you can go all crazy with it.

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rounce 3322 days ago

Uhh, JavaScript (via FlowType)?

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atemerev 3322 days ago

"Happy languages are all alike; every unhappy language is unhappy in its own way".

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realharo 3322 days ago

    name: string;
    constructor(name: string) {
        this.name = name
    }

You don't have to do this in TypeScript either, you can just do

    constructor(public name: string) { }

Also, the "Empty collections" section doesn't do the same thing, the collections you created in Kotlin are immutable.

And the TypeScript ones have the value `undefined` (unfortunate that strictNullChecks doesn't catch things like that https://github.com/Microsoft/TypeScript/issues/8476).

And for some nitpicking, please be consistent with your semicolons, either use them or don't use them, but don't mix it randomly like that.

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Cthulhu_ 3322 days ago

Some of the TS examples also include an external library (lodash) to compare features; not sure if that's an apt comparison.

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janwillemb 3322 days ago

Why this comparison?

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yoshiokatsuneo 3322 days ago

Kotlin, Swift, and TypeScript have modern features like type inherence, null-safe, closure, and are supported by big company.

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TeMPOraL 3322 days ago

> modern features like type inherence, null-safe, closure

This is one of the more annoying problems with our industry. People rediscover solutions from 60s and 70s and sell them as if they were new and revolutionary...

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pjmlp 3322 days ago

Still waiting for web developers to rediscover 90's RAD tooling.

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realharo 3322 days ago

I don't think we're ever going to go back to that. Those UIs were pretty static, i.e. you only created the "initial state" in the UI designer, and then modified it during the application run-time (sometimes even creating new widgets in code), or attached some kind of data-binding models to it.

With the popularity of things like React, you now have a powerful way to express how the UI looks in every state, not just the initial one.

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romanovcode 3322 days ago

I'm 100% we are.

Step 1: People realise that Electron apps look different and do not fit the OS.

Step 2: Big company invests and creates a library that supports Win/OSX looks.

Step 3: Same big company creates a RAD type tooling for it.

We present you a revolution - Big Corp. RAD Tooling 2020 a la Borland Delphi 2007.

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tobltobs 3322 days ago

Now we just need something which would take care of the 'R'. The time you needed to develop an app with those 90's RAD tools wouldn't even be sufficient to setup the build pipeline for those trendy JS frameworks.

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pjmlp 3322 days ago

I will only agree, the day someone makes a RAD based React WYSIWYG editor that can at very least compete with Microsoft Blend, Android Studio or XCode just to give a few examples.

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romanovcode 3322 days ago

> type inherence, null-safe, closure

Modern? Are you serious?

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boubiyeah 3322 days ago

I laughed so hard :D

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yoshiokatsuneo 3322 days ago

derived from Swift is like Kotlin: https://github.com/Nilhcem/swift-is-like-kotlin

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mbel 3322 days ago

I guess that the next one will be: "Kotlin is like Rust", or perhaps there should be "Kotlin is like Go" first?

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qcz 3322 days ago

Why not do "Kotlin is like PHP" or "Kotlin is like Visual Basic 6" immediately?

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mbel 3322 days ago

"Kotlin is like Java" would be pretty funny.

Could be fun.

You mean like Go is like Algol?

http://cowlark.com/2009-11-15-go/

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pavlov 3322 days ago

Maybe the generalized version is simply:

"All these new languages with C-derived syntax and automatic memory management are pretty much the same -- so pick the one that is most supported on your target platform, get to work, and don't worry about it."

I'm kind of expecting someone to do a "Meta-Kotlin" next: a language that has the common intersection of features from Swift, Kotlin, C# and TypeScript, and offers tidy code generation for any of these.

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mike_hearn 3322 days ago

Kotlin isn't much like Rust. A comparison to Go would be interesting, especially now Kotlin has coroutines.

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pjmlp 3322 days ago

> "Kotlin is like Go"

Curious how they would relate all the features Go lacks.

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bauerd 3322 days ago

If I squint my eyes hard enough TypeScript looks like a LISP

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avoidwork 3322 days ago