Is JavaScript an easy programming language?
No, it isn’t. Some people will tell you it’s easy if you start with just the basics of the language and focus on a small subset of JavaScript.
However, this is a deception. The fact is, ANY programming language, no matter how large and complicated, can be regarded as easy if you start with just the basics of the language and focus on a small subset of it.
The real issue is what happens when you progress beyond the basics and beyond this small subset. That’s why nobody ever says C++ is easy, or Scala is easy, or Swift is easy, or Kotlin is easy, or C# is easy.
And that’s why JavaScript is not easy.
First of all, JavaScript is a disaster of language design. It was created in only 10 days by Brendan Eich and it shows. JavaScript is riddled with all kinds of design defects, the infamous WATs and WTFs that have made JavaScript the butt of jokes for years.
Second, ECMA TC39 have done little to repair these design defects. Instead, they’ve institutued “strict mode” and advised everyone to use linters and best practices. If that sounds weaselly, that’s because it is.
Third, TC39 have tried to make you forget about JavaScript’s nonsense by piling on new features and bloating the language into a huge behemoth.
ECMAScript 2017, for example, has an 885-page language spec!!! I’ll bet no JS developer has ever told you this. Gosh, I wonder why. So, we’ve established that JavaScript is large and complicated.
But that’s not all! The front-end web development landscape is just as complicated. It’s a colossal clusterfuck of complications:
React is one of the most complicated JS frameworks there are. Leave it to JS devs to do front-end development the hard way.
Don’t believe what they tell you. JavaScript is not easy. It is one of the most difficult languages around. If you must do front-end development, choose a simpler language like:
However, this is a deception. The fact is, ANY programming language, no matter how large and complicated, can be regarded as easy if you start with just the basics of the language and focus on a small subset of it.
The real issue is what happens when you progress beyond the basics and beyond this small subset. That’s why nobody ever says C++ is easy, or Scala is easy, or Swift is easy, or Kotlin is easy, or C# is easy.
And that’s why JavaScript is not easy.
First of all, JavaScript is a disaster of language design. It was created in only 10 days by Brendan Eich and it shows. JavaScript is riddled with all kinds of design defects, the infamous WATs and WTFs that have made JavaScript the butt of jokes for years.
Second, ECMA TC39 have done little to repair these design defects. Instead, they’ve institutued “strict mode” and advised everyone to use linters and best practices. If that sounds weaselly, that’s because it is.
Third, TC39 have tried to make you forget about JavaScript’s nonsense by piling on new features and bloating the language into a huge behemoth.
ECMAScript 2017, for example, has an 885-page language spec!!! I’ll bet no JS developer has ever told you this. Gosh, I wonder why. So, we’ve established that JavaScript is large and complicated.
But that’s not all! The front-end web development landscape is just as complicated. It’s a colossal clusterfuck of complications:
React is one of the most complicated JS frameworks there are. Leave it to JS devs to do front-end development the hard way.
Don’t believe what they tell you. JavaScript is not easy. It is one of the most difficult languages around. If you must do front-end development, choose a simpler language like:
- Dart
- Elm
- GopherJS (Go)
- JSweet (Java)
- Opal (Ruby)
- PharoJS (Pharo)
- Transcrypt (Python)
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