[penprog]

You see, I barely need to "understand" Java to use it and get decent and performant code but I need to be a javascript expert to be able to do anything not horrible.

Please stop trying to act like the state of web and javascript is good because it's shit. Web development is basically a bunch of people suffering from stockholm syndrome.

[jekrb]

Really? I feel js gives way more freedom and is much more forgiving to writing in your own particular style. I've had the exact opposite experience with Java. I write JavaScript all the time for work and hobby and it's always rewarding.

Also, I'm in college for computer science and the school will only teach Java courses. It's dreadful and maddening. Classical inheritance is complete shit. Compiler error messages suck. The language itself is just too bloated for me to want use. Whatever I can write in Java I can do in a fraction of the time with js with much more modular and maintainable code.

I think java interfaces are a clear sign of stockholm syndrome, as every time I asked the professor why they are necessary I never got an answer other than "to hide part of your code from the outside world", "to use as a blueprint for your classes", or my personal favorite "Because in Java you write interfaces." I tried shifting my question to "Why don't I have to write an interface in js?" That one never got answered. Maybe someone here who is crafty with Java could explain and justify for me the reason for writing what feels like more code for no obvious benefit.

Also, sorry if Java is your thing and I sound like I'm bashing it. It's just been really frustrating for me compared to literally every other language I've used, especially since my degree depends solely on the language.

[penprog]

java interfaces are one of the main reasons people like java (and as other people have said, it's reimplementation in other more modern languages shows how popular and useful they are). They promote code reuse and allow protected variation. Your professors bad explanations aren't a reason to dislike interfaces.

Also how have you not, in a java class, written code that uses polymorphism? That would be the easiest way to understand how useful interfaces are.

[jekrb]

But I reuse code all the time with js, following DOT and DRY principles, just fine without an interface. Especially with tools like browserify, where I can basically manage my code as partials independent from each other. Also, I have had to write java code that uses polymorphism. I still find polymorphism easier in javascript. That being said, I think classes and polymorphism is kinda of all just nonsense.

My preferred method of "inheritance" really is just extending an object. Which js is great at. And there's multiple ways to do this, with multiple kinds of prototypes. For something quick an easy I can make a prototype and just pass that through object.create() and now I have a new object that has all the properties of what I would loosely consider to be a "parent". It's more cloning than it is inheritance, and I can completely override properties however I want, while the original properties stay unchanged.

IMO polymorphism and interfaces in Java seem more like hurdles and added complexity compared to object extension and cloning in JavaScript. _.extend paired with browserify also makes for extremely modular code that I haven't seen any Java code compare too.

[woah]

I agree. An interface in JS is a unit test.

I think that a lot of "classical" programmers simply don't understand how important modules are to JS development.

This is why you get these posts about "how can you manage 1,000,000 LOC in JS!!?", when they don't understand that you never have 1,000,000 in JS, you have a bunch of small, unit tested modules.

[pjmlp]

Because in the real boys club (aka enterprise) no one writes unit tests unless they are imposed on them.

[Dewie]

> Also, I'm in college for computer science and the school will only teach Java courses. It's dreadful and maddening. Classical inheritance is complete shit. Compiler error messages suck. The language itself is just too bloated for me to want use. Whatever I can write in Java I can do in a fraction of the time with js with much more modular and maintainable code.

Whoever likes writing Java in CS courses?

> I think java interfaces are a clear sign of stockholm syndrome, as every time I asked the professor why they are necessary I never got an answer other than "to hide part of your code from the outside world", "to use as a blueprint for your classes", or my personal favorite "Because in Java you write interfaces." I tried shifting my question to "Why don't I have to write an interface in js?" That one never got answered. Maybe someone here who is crafty with Java could explain and justify for me the reason for writing what feels like more code for no obvious benefit.

Almost all modern, statically typed languages have some equivalent of Java interfaces. Inheritance a la Java is controversial, but the concept of interfaces/signatures/typeclasses/traits is a very accepted language feature[1]. Maybe the benefit of it will become apparent to you once you have to write a project with more than 7 Java classes - or when you don't have to answer to lecturers that profess that you have to make all your throwaway course work super modular and generic.

[1] Litmus test: even Go has it.

[woah]

You've coded a lot in languages very similar to Java and that is an argument for Java's ease of use?

[penprog]

My argument was that the idea of having to work on a javascript project with >10,000 lines of code makes me want to vomit while the idea of working on a java project with >1,000,000 lines of code doesn't make me feel anything special.

People that complain about verbosity really don't have their priorities in line

[woah]

The point of Javascript is that projects don't get to 10,000 lines. If a project is this big, you have failed.

Bragging about LOC is one of the most ridiculous things ever, since it is a bad thing.

[pjmlp]

Have you ever gotten to review enterprise code done by multiple teams with offshoring?