The Javascript Hackers Dilemna

Dietrich Kappe, Wednesday, April 12, 2006 @ 11:43 pm

Ajax has brought a new focus onto many parts of the browser, but none more so than Javascript. What started out as a rip and run embedded language called "Livescript" in Netscape Navigator has evolved into a rich language that supports sophisticated OO programming and design styles. But most Javascript written today remains primitive, poorly designed and implemented -- hack jobs, so to speak. The most you'll see on many commercial sites is the Javascript divided up into procedural utility libraries. Just look at the excellent book "JavaScript Anthology" (see a very illuminating review of it here). Most of the code in the book is very procedural; that seems to be the expectation of Javascript -- ignore most of its capabilities by writing little procedural snippets.

So here comes Ajax, along with tons of other tools and platforms that embed Javascript: OpenLaszlo (flash UI), Kettle (ETTL tool), and the various projects that embed Rhino, the Mozilla Projects Java-based Javascript interpreter. On their heels come an army of sophisticated and knowledgeable programmers who have different standards. These guys are relentlessly raising the bar on design and style in Javascript. The days of rip-and-run Javascript are over.

So, what's a Javascript Hacker to do? Maybe it's time for a second edition of Javascript Objects, a title that went nowhere in 1998.

agile ajax

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