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stateofjs survey reminds me of all that's wrong with JavaScript: too many frameworks each of which has to reinvent the wheel and depend on too many node_modules child dependencies, most don't support TypeScript properly (ever tried to convert a node-express-mongoose tutorial to TS?), there is still no proper type support in JS core language, and browser features get added in form of overly complex APIs instead of handy DOM methods.

Instead the community gets excited about micro-improvements like optional chaining which has been possible in other languages for decades.

At least there is something like TypeScript, but I don't like its syntax either, it's overly verbose and adds too much "Java feeling" to JavaScript in my opinion.

Also there is too much JS in web development, as CSS and HTML seem to have missed adding enough native functionality that works reliable cross browser to build websites in a descriptive way without misunderstanding web dev for application engineering.

After all, I'd rather have frontend PHP than more JavaScript everywhere.

Anyway, at least the survey has the option to choose how satisfied or unsatisfied people are about certain aspects of JS. But I already suspect that most respondents will seem to be very happy and eager to learn the latest hype train frameworks or stick to their beloved React in the future.

Comments
  • 1
    JS "OG" for me. My projects aren't big enough to warrant all the fancy frameworks.
  • 2
    Js is the result of years of partial compatibility.

    Changing html or css is a slow process since you need to get all browsers to support any new feature which takes time and if js can solve that faster, sites will use js to do it since with js you can often work around differences.

    And that has been going on since the late 90’s.

    Its not a perfect solution but it is A solution and it has proven to work good enough for almost 30 years, not likely it will be any major difference anytime soon :/
  • 2
    despite slow changes to JS engines in the browsers (which are partially handled by Babel and polyfills), core JS could have moved on and integrated a more elegant alternative to TypeScript long ago, if anyone cared.

    Considering HTML 5, webforms, CSS 3 / 4 and all the W3C working groups drafts currently being developed, I have to say I'm quite happy about frontend web progress, and I'm planning to adopt new features earlier on in the future, rediscovering the forgotten virtue of progressive enhancement. And maybe I' ll use polyfills which is just the JS that someone else wrote.

    Looking back to the web 30 years ago, I used Netscape Navigator and ftp.exe to "make web design". Long ago, exciting times, but I wouldn't want that time back ever again :-)
  • 0
    Hey, if you're looking to reduce the amount of Java Script, you can use low-code frameworks like Retool and other alternatives
  • 0
    @MikeK I tried to use low-code like Webflow, Wix, or WordPress page builders (Semplice, Bakery, Elementor, Gutenberg full-page editing). I'd rather code my own JavaScript framework from scratch than use low-code!

    Low-code is useful for end-users, casual editors, and small business startups, but for me as a developer, low-code sucks.
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