Ironic [was: Supercard vs. Rev]

[edutec]

> Ironically, the most popular scripting language in the world is JavaScript,
> used not only in Web development but also in the IDEs for a great many major
> packages from Adobe, Macromedia, and others.  I say "ironically" because the
> language was never designed for widespread use: it was a weekend project by
> a Netscape engineer that got rushed into the browser when the marketing
> staff heard about it.  All too C-like, it is a needlessly cumbersome and
> tedious language design, fine for compilation but uniquely inefficient for
> real-time interpretation (see Osterhaut,
> <http://dev.scriptics.com/doc/scripting.html>).

Brendan Eich offers some insights in the foreword to Danny Goodman's
Javascript Bible, 4th edition.

"As JavaScript's creator, I would like to say a few words about where
JavaScript has been, where it is going [...] Although the 'natural language'
syntax of HyperTalk was fresh in my mind after a friend lent me 'The
Complete HyperCard Handbook by some fellow named Goodman, the Next Big Thing
weighed heavier, especially in light of another goal: scripting Java
applets. If the scripting language resembled Java, then those programmers
who made the jump from JavaScript to Java would welcome similarities in
syntax. But insisting on Java's class and type declarations, or on a
semicolon after each statement when a line ending would do, were out of the
question -- scripting for most people is about writing short snippets of
code, quickly and without fuss."

Eich has the opportunity to use a natural language syntax for a scripting
language that would make HTML dynamic. Instead, he opts for a "Java-lite
syntax", as he calls it, to ease the learning curve of those migrating from
JavaScript to Java.

What a missed opportunity!

Now tune in on the discussion at
http://kmirror.deskmod.com/forums/viewforum.php?f=14
and read through the thread "This will probably be unpopular, but..."

Discomfort with "Java-lite syntax" raises the specter of VBscript, before
winding around to x-talk (specifically Revolution).

There is collective shrug from the creator of Konfabulator that, er, well,
we used JavaScript because it is the scripting language used by Adobe and
Macromedia so it should be easier for designer-types.

Another missed opportunity!

(Move over for a moment, Rich. Rev. Rog is about to take the pulpit.)

If x-talk can be integrated with HTML (HTML + CSS + x-talk) and people can
come to think outside the browser (nod to Richard), then the plain-language
revolution (!) can flourish.

-- Roger Kenyon