Hacker News new | ask | show | jobs
by marcelvr 5034 days ago
"... but when it is JavaScript that will be run by the browser then JavaScript is what you should be writing."

So by that logic, one shouldn't be writing C# that targets the CLR either, but should rather be coding in MSIL directly. Mmm, no thanks!
2 comments
weego 5034 days ago
Come on, we all know that isn't a logical equality.
link
giulianob 5034 days ago
Once the debugging tools are able to keep everything abstracted then you no longer need to dig down. Example is of course writing assembly.
link
0ptr 5034 days ago
Yeah there's no logical equality to machine code and C++ but still people use debuggers. I don't think this is something that cannot be solved.
link
bdfh42 5034 days ago
But JavaScript is not (another daft meme) "the assembler of the web" as it is itself interpreted (or what have you) into byte code for execution.

The point is that one should limit the level of abstraction to one which sits in that comfort zone between code that is sensible to humans and code that is sensible to the machine running it and (perhaps more importantly) the available dev/debug tools.

link
vibrunazo 5034 days ago
No, one should limit the level of abstraction to the fastest one that is reliable enough to get the job done. There's nothing intrinsic about high abstraction layers that say they must suck for debugging what you need debugged. It just depends on what you need to do with it. If it gets your job done faster and it's reliable enough for your job, then why not? That's why higher abstractions are created in the first place.

In short, you can't instantly rule out this compiler without knowing exactly what you'd want to do with it. And exactly how good it would be at that specific problem.

link
eckyptang 5034 days ago
Yes no limits to abstractions always works perfectly..

Check out this stack trace:

http://www.ibm.com/developerworks/java/library/os-ecspy1/sta...

Now imagine that across three different languages.

link
erik-kallen 5034 days ago
Java has been said to be a DSL to convert XML configuration into stack traces. But what does this have to do with compiling C# to Javascript?
link
eckyptang 5034 days ago
The abstraction is too deep. The stack trace above is an example of what too deep abstractions do to those who have to use them.
link
marcelvr 5034 days ago
I don't agree that JavaScript being good enough for one person makes it good enough for everyone.

I don't agree that limitations should be placed on abstractions; I have no clue what's happening at the CPU level when a line of JavaScript or MSIL or bla bla executes. I don't need to know what's happening at all the layers of abstraction beneath the one I'm working on, and that helps me be productive.

There might be a pragmatic argument against using compile-to-JS languages _right now_, but with things like Google Chrome's Source Maps, this is a problem that is being solved if it hasn't been already.

link