Glynn BirdOct 23, 2024
Nolan Lawson

New post: 'Why I’m skeptical of rewriting JavaScript tools in "faster" languages' https://nolanlawson.com/2024/10/20/why-im-skeptical-of-rewriting-javascript-tools-in-faster-languages/

Some thoughts that sprang from a recent Mastodon thread: https://toot.cafe/@nolan/113340900722953634

Why I’m skeptical of rewriting JavaScript tools in “faster” languages

I’ve written a lot of JavaScript. I like JavaScript. And more importantly, I’ve built up a set of skills in understanding, optimizing, and debugging JavaScript that I’m reluctant …

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Oct 20, 2024 at 9:20pmWeb
Show threadMaximeOct 21, 2024

@nolan I think we’re starting to see similar stuff in Python and I’m conflicted.

I feel like Python (or Python’s tooling) is even slower than Javascript, so the speed improvements are even more appreciated. But like your said, not a fan of the language barrier it creates to contribute to those new tool! And this is especially true for Rust which has such a high learning curve compared to most other langs.

Show threadNolan LawsonOct 22, 2024
@Maxime Yeah and I know Python has kind of dealt with this for longer due to numpy (and similar tools?). Node has always had a bit of C/C++ tooling, but it was usually limited and often optional (e.g. node-sass vs dart-sass).
Show threadGlynn BirdOct 23, 2024
@nolan A thing I've been doing recently is using fewer dependencies to reduce maintenance headaches. Node now has good (if not great) fetch, command-line parser, testing framework etc. So I'm using far fewer external extras that I used to use. Maybe that makes thing faster (?) but certainly easier for me to manage over time.