Node.js: My New Preoccupation
So, it’s is 2012! What is a new year without a new preoccupation?
I have been working on a .NET based application using MVVM. All I can say is: .NET seems like a very uncomfortable straitjacket to me.
So, in my spare time, I dream of making my escape. This time, I am playing with Node.js. I won’t say much about it right now, except to say that I am playing with the idea of developing my own little library to make node code easier to write and maintain.
Code readability has become a big commitment for me. I work with so much code that is virtually unmaintainable and unreadable. It offends me. I do not mean to offend or unfairly criticize anybody that I have worked with, but I have grown frustrated by the fact that programmers do not know how to write clean, beautiful and elegant code. Bad names, bad functions, and poor architecture abound.
I like node, but the first thing I notice is that the code can get ugly pretty fast. Today, I am playing with tamejs, which makes it easier to write clean asynchronous code. For now, I am calling my library GumMachine. More about that later.
.NET Productivity Sucks
I am being deliberately provocative in my headline, but a co-worker and I were commenting to each other that we felt that we were becoming less productive in .NET. On the whole, we do not think it is our fault.
Our current project uses the Prism framework. Only one member of our team can claim to be extremely versatile using this framework – the promise is that it allows developers to build applications that are easier to maintain.
Some members of the team are on a learning curve, but it seems to be a challenge for them. I experience the same thing a year ago on another project that was using Model-View-Presenter. In theory, the benefits are clear. In practice, not so clear yet. I find that I spend a lot of time learning and/or teaching, and I wonder what it will be like when we add new or different developers to the team.
I get tired of type errors in .NET – I have felt for a long time that the compiler is trying to protect me from making errors I would never make. But, I do not have have anything coherent to say about that right now. I just want to cite an interesting article that states that developers are more productive using Django than they are using .NET.
I have nothing to add – just want to say: I am feeling less productive in .NET than I used to. I like Python – I used it on a project over the summer. It felt great to deliver working code every day. Is it just me?
JavaScript is Not A Computer Language?
Several years ago, I had the pleasure of working on a contract at Canadian Forest Products. I worked with a great group of people who had worked together for years, on a good project with clear requirements. While I was there, I used the remote scripting toolkit from Microsoft, which allowed me to communicate with the server without reloading the web page: we now call this technique AJAX. I wrote a lot of JavaScript.
While I was there, Terry French, team leader of Canfor’s e-business effort, expressed an opinion. I am paraphrasing after years have passed – if I do not get it right, I hope Terry will forgive me: “You code as if JavaScript were a programming language. It is not. It’s a scripting language. It’s great for providing simple form interactions, and validating fields on submit. That’s it.”
If this blog were a trashy daytime TV talkshow, it would be one of those look-at-me-now shows. You know the kind: people who were unpopular in high school, but who have made good, confront their tormentors. Terry was a great guy to work with, but on behalf of the much maligned computer language, JavaScript, I say: look at me now!
Server side JavaScript is making a comeback. But, wait, there’s more. JavaScript programmers now get to deal with sophisticated concepts such as currying, callbacks, closures, array comprehensions, and test driven development in JavaScript.
And then there are those lovely libraries: JQuery, Mootools, and YUI, just to name a few. JavaScript has come a long way. What do you think of JavaScript now, Terry.
If you are interested in Javascript, check out Douglas Crockford’s videos on JavaScript at Yahoo Video.