Hacker News Reader

Comment by mattnewton | Hacker News Reader

I find all his digs at javascript funny since, at least the way I use it, javascript is basically an ugly-looking scheme. Javascript is responsible for my 'lisp enlightenment' with the language using first-class functions and closures, and the wide variety of precompilers. It strikes me as fashionable to hate on javascript.

Java on the other hand, now that's a horrible language ;) ;)

View on HN

Javascript isn't Scheme: http://journal.stuffwithstuff.com/2013/07/18/javascript-isnt...

If Javascript were only an ugly looking scheme...

Sweet.js brings hygienic macros to JavaScript and follows directly from Scheme R5RS mechanisms AFAICT.

Actually, sweet.js is based almost entirely on various macro innovations developed in Racket (such as the Honu approach to macros in languages without parens).

I too am amused by his opinion of JavaScript. A professor was moved enough to translate most of SICP to JavaScript and writes in its first chapter, "Above beyond these considerations, programming in JavaScript is great fun" [1]. I agree, and I'm enjoying going through this SICP/JS moreso than the original, as I can write solutions to the exercises in any old browser JavaScript console and paste them into a gist for safekeeping.

[1] http://www.comp.nus.edu.sg/~cs1101s/sicp/

> It strikes me as fashionable to hate on javascript.

Please name another programming language whose inventor has described it as having “a lot of stupid in it.”

It’s no longer a matter of fashion. It’s a matter of authoritative opinion.

I was thinking the same thing as I read it but I can conceded that its easy to overlook how much influence Lisp had on JS. I also find it mildly amusing to see all the Lisps written in JS that keep popping up lately.

Reply on news.ycombinator.com