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by jfkebwjsbx 2253 days ago
Static binaries do not have any dependency, and those that are not static typically depend on libc etc., regardless of the language being C, JavaScript (the browser) or anything else. So we don't count them as "dependencies".

But my point above was to counter the "C compiler is a dependency" claim. Nobody counts that way when discussing running programs, and that was my point.

1 comments

There are dependencies to build a program, and dependencies to run it. Sure a static binary can run without any run time dependencies if written to run on bare metal (without an OS). Although, you could go further down that rabbit hole and say the hardware is a dependency. (better start writing stuff in VHDL and Verilog /s)

Both types of dependencies do come up. However, most people don't consider language dependencies. However, if you for instances need to port your code to a lot systems such dependencies can suddenly be very important. Especially if you have to do the porting. So to say: "Nobody says a C file has a "dependency" because you have to compile it." is a bit disingenuous. There is a lot of C code that require features only available in certain compilers. At which point that code now depends on that compiler.

However, JS seems to have problem with too many dependencies, at times these dependencies can be trivial that is makes someone ask why...