[sunsoong]

These are all valid points. Debugging is probably the most significant. I agree that the syntax can potentially make CoffeeScript hard to read, but this can be easily avoided.

One of the nice thing about CoffeeScript is that it allows one to be selective about the syntax. For example, unlike the author I will use keywords like is, isnt, or, and, yes, no, on, off because I find it easier to read that way. However, I dislike the calling functions without the parentheses and I dislike the long one-line comprehensions. Instead of doing this:

   eat cheese for cheese in cheeses when cheese is blue

I would do:

   for cheese in cheeses
     if cheese is blue
       eat(cheese)

I can have a minimal syntax, but retain some of the unnecessary bits to make it easier to read. If the author finds themselves writing code that is hard to read, they should just not write it that way. Write it the way you (and your team) like it to be written.