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by lame88 2230 days ago
I briefly looked over this project when this link first popped up and didnt think much of it, but then i was surprised to see this huge surge in votes. I dont do much in the javascript and related world - can someone explain what in particular about this project has generated such interest? Even after reading the top comments, I feel like im missing the bigger pitcure.
2 comments
otoburb 2230 days ago
>>I dont do much in the javascript and related world - can someone explain what in particular about this project has generated such interest?

The majority of the interest lies in the fact that Ryan Dahl[1] was the original creator of Node.JS[2], which is currently a very popular Javascript runtime and web backend.

Dahl released the initial version of Node.JS in 2009[3]. After a decade of experience working on Node.JS and growing the community, Dahl decided to create an alternative Javascript (and Typescript) runtime in mid/late 2018 called Deno which is now v1.0.

[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ryan_Dahl

[2] https://nodejs.org/en/

[3] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Node.js

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jkrems 2230 days ago
> After a decade of experience working on Node.JS and growing the community, Dahl decided to create an alternative Javascript (and Typescript) runtime in mid/late 2018 called Deno which is now v1.0.

Just to nit-pick: Ryan Dahl had stepped away from node and the surrounding ecosystem in 2012. So for the vast majority of node's lifetime, he hasn't really been involved. Node in 2012 was a very different project.

(That doesn't take away from his observations or from the things that deno does differently. Just trying to reduce confusion.)

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z3t4 2230 days ago
I think the goal was to eradicate JavaScript (Deno was originally TypeScript only. But in order to run fast, TS first need to compile to JavaScript). After buying Github and NPM, moving people over from Node.JS to Deno would be the final blow to the JavaScript community.
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anyhooo 2228 days ago
I don't think that's correct. From what I remember of watching his talk[0], Ryan is a fan of JavaScript. TypeScript gives optional typing, so you can still write normal JavaScript anyway. I don't think there was ever a plan to enforce types in Deno.

[0] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M3BM9TB-8yA

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