[flaie]

> Yes, there are languages that are worse than Javascript to work in (I'm looking at you Java and PHP)

Java has an enormous ecosystem, is fast, is stable, has static typing, has more tooling than anything else, is easier to learn, does not have all the gotchas that Javascript has. I don't consider Java a worse language at all.

I use Java since a decade, and frankly I don't understand that rage against it while it is a totally valid option to start a project with, even a startup. If you want to get RESTful and all there's everything you need, etc.

Take it from a guy doing some Golang since more than one year and enjoying it a lot, also well versed in Python, Javascript, and even OCaml.

In fact, the time it took me to write this comment, I decided that I don't care anymore. Use what you need for the job and be prepared to change when something new is out and have a real impact on what you do.

[adamlett]

I agree that Java has relatively few WTF-level language design flaws. So on that count it wins against Javascript. But Java also doesn't have the expressive power of Javascript that comes from having 1st-order functions. Static typing is nice in principle, but the verbosity of Java's type system makes programming in Java feel like running in wet cement. I respect that there is a humongous ecosystem surrounding Java, but that doesn't really speak to whether the language is pleasant to work with or not.

[stcredzero]

Static typing is nice in principle, but the verbosity of Java's type system makes programming in Java feel like running in wet cement.

So then programming in Java with a powerful IDE is like running in wet cement with bionic stilts? I think this is actually an apt analogy, especially for when things don't work quite right or when things get a bit laggy.