We Should Stop Using JavaScript According to Douglas Crockford

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lc5Np9OqDHU

by bapetel • 3 years ago

8 8 3 years ago

dtagames2• 3 years ago

I have a great deal of respect for Douglas Crockford but he's offering a complaint without a solution. By his own admission, it's too late for any new languages to seriously take hold.

This video was recorded before the rise of LLMs, making the specific language we use even less important. The reality is that the sunk costs of your existing codebase will almost always outweigh any advantage of trying a new language.

jqpabc1232• 3 years ago

Is this a complaint or a confession?

dtagames2• 3 years ago

Something of both, lol! It's definitely true that greenfield projects can and probably should at least look at other options. What I mean is that, for better or worse, after any significant code base gets established, changing the language it uses is akin to starting over. When you do, you're back at greenfield.

Many (most?) projects will never qualify for such a rewrite, so JS/TS it is. I'm a huge fan of both, so I'm ok with them being around for a while.

dragonwriter• 3 years ago

The reality is that the sunk costs of your existing codebase will almost always outweigh any advantage of trying a new language.

Sunk costs are an irrelevancy, relative future costs are what matters. Transition costs, especially for a mature product, may sometimes be an issue, especially if for some reason you are blocked from doing an incremental change.

And obviously neither irrelevant sunk costs nor relevant transition costs apply to a greenfield project.

jacquesm2• 3 years ago

This is a very deep insight but it does rely on people knowing what the relative future costs are and this is a much harder problem than looking back and so the part of the equation with the most evidence behind it tends to be given the greater weight.

jacquesm2• 3 years ago

That's more than a decade or two too late. JS will be here in some form or other ages from now.

bapetel• 3 years ago

Yep, it will still be there. Google wanted to replace JS with Dart but they could'nt because i think JS is right now somehow like the base of web.

We Should Stop Using JavaScript According to Douglas Crockford

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