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0 pointsint_19h4y ago0 comments

Speaking for myself, I have already learned JavaScript - I just don't want to have to use it.

0 comments

With WebAssembly, now you don’t have to. You do need a JS shim to load the WebAssembly, but after that, pick your favorite source language that can target wasm.

k1rcher4y ago

This is fascinating. As someone who programs primarily in Python, I have been struggling with adapting to a JS-heavy environment in the past several years.

I have began utilizing Node + React for frontend use cases but find that my build pipelines become incredibly cluttered and esoteric rather quickly.

Am going to explore wasm solutions, thanks :)

giobox4y ago

I’ve long been of the opinion you must learn JS today regardless of what your preferred language might be - it’s more or less (thanks to browser vendors and the web) the closest thing we have to a “zero” dependency runtime on all platforms. Learning a WASM based workaround to avoid learning JavaScript is not helping you or the products you might want to make. There is a huge ecosystem of existing JavaScript code to adopt or extend in the client out there too. Expecting or wishing the market to bend to your preferred language or style is an often great way to become a very unhappy developer.

jessaustin4y ago

As someone who programs primarily in Python, I have been struggling with adapting...

Would you mind providing some more details here? After Python packaging drove me batty for the last time, I wouldn't have described the switch to JS/CS/TS as "struggling"?

With respect to "build pipelines", you don't have to use grunt, gulp, etc. It's totally fine to have regular bash commands in npm scripts.

1 more reply

int_19hOP4y ago

WebAssembly holds a lot of promise for sure, but the interface with the outside world still has to go through JS for now for anything non-trivial. I really do hope that this will change soon.

marcosdumay4y ago

For web programming, WebAssembly is still not enough.

It solves the problem of how to run your non-web based code in a browser, but until it can interoperate with the DOM, JS will continue to be mandatory.

bluejekyll4y ago

I think you mean efficiently interoperate with the DOM. There are plenty of abstractions (at least that I’ve worked with in Rust) that allow for dynamic management of the DOM.

For example, see the wasm-bindgen and the generated web-APIs in web-sys: https://docs.rs/web-sys/0.3.49/web_sys/

A nice framework that takes advantage of this is yew: https://yew.rs/docs/en/

hinkley4y ago

What I learned about myself working as a NodeJS developer:

I’m okay writing JavaScript as long as I don’t have to spend all day every day writing it.

joshmanders4y ago

This is an interesting thing to think about.

I was primarily a PHP backend dev for 15 years who only used jQuery to toggle classes on click actions, but decided to try something new and switched to Node in 2015.

Node + ECMAScript 2015 just BLEW my mind and was so fun, that not only am I now primarily a Node dev, but I've excelled extensively in the frontend.

I've never enjoyed building websites or web apps as much as I have in the last 5 years.

j / k navigate · click thread line to collapse

0 comments

bluejekyll4y ago

With WebAssembly, now you don’t have to. You do need a JS shim to load the WebAssembly, but after that, pick your favorite source language that can target wasm.

k1rcher4y ago

This is fascinating. As someone who programs primarily in Python, I have been struggling with adapting to a JS-heavy environment in the past several years.

I have began utilizing Node + React for frontend use cases but find that my build pipelines become incredibly cluttered and esoteric rather quickly.

Am going to explore wasm solutions, thanks :)

giobox4y ago

jessaustin4y ago

As someone who programs primarily in Python, I have been struggling with adapting...

Would you mind providing some more details here? After Python packaging drove me batty for the last time, I wouldn't have described the switch to JS/CS/TS as "struggling"?

With respect to "build pipelines", you don't have to use grunt, gulp, etc. It's totally fine to have regular bash commands in npm scripts.

1 more reply

int_19hOP4y ago

WebAssembly holds a lot of promise for sure, but the interface with the outside world still has to go through JS for now for anything non-trivial. I really do hope that this will change soon.

marcosdumay4y ago

For web programming, WebAssembly is still not enough.

It solves the problem of how to run your non-web based code in a browser, but until it can interoperate with the DOM, JS will continue to be mandatory.

bluejekyll4y ago

I think you mean efficiently interoperate with the DOM. There are plenty of abstractions (at least that I’ve worked with in Rust) that allow for dynamic management of the DOM.

For example, see the wasm-bindgen and the generated web-APIs in web-sys: https://docs.rs/web-sys/0.3.49/web_sys/

A nice framework that takes advantage of this is yew: https://yew.rs/docs/en/

hinkley4y ago

What I learned about myself working as a NodeJS developer:

I’m okay writing JavaScript as long as I don’t have to spend all day every day writing it.

joshmanders4y ago

This is an interesting thing to think about.

I was primarily a PHP backend dev for 15 years who only used jQuery to toggle classes on click actions, but decided to try something new and switched to Node in 2015.

Node + ECMAScript 2015 just BLEW my mind and was so fun, that not only am I now primarily a Node dev, but I've excelled extensively in the frontend.

I've never enjoyed building websites or web apps as much as I have in the last 5 years.

j / k navigate · click thread line to collapse