[jaegerpicker]

I guess what I mean there is less let's have front end devs write our backend but that the ecosystem is so huge and that so many people know JS that it's a huge advantage. Nearly every single web developer that's been working over the last 20 years knows some level of javascript. No other language enjoys that advantage.

[taude]

The Language, (in this case JavaScript) is probably the smallest part of domain knowledge needed to be a good front-end or back-end engineer. Front-end engineer, know JavaScript? OK, optimize these queries, do we need to cache, make temp tables, map/redux against the DW, etc? Hey backend developer, know JavaScript? Why won't this render the same in Chrome 33.1 as it does IE 10...etc...

JavaScript is a convenience language across the stack for when the team is small, or even a single person.

[fat0wl]

yup this comment trail is pretty dead-on.

The problem with web dev (I've thought about this a lot) is really that the browser is kindof the hinge. So no matter what you do for unifying languages, even porting modules so they're same on node front to back-end... you still can't really ever get to a point where you're unit testing pretty reliably through the full-stack.

So might as well test parts in isolation & who cares if there is one language throughout the whole stack as long as your devs are good at the languages required.

One day I think the impedance between server & client will disappear, but only when the browser's role as a rendering engine diminishes or finds better integration/intimacy with the codebase.

(and incidentally, i stopped caring so much about this struggle once i learned how to develop pretty reliable SOA. Haven't totally given up trying to conceptualize the perfect stack tho)

[collyw]

I know enough Javascript to make something work. I know enough about Databases / Python / Perl to make it work, and make it work properly.