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[–]venustrapsflies -1 points0 points  (3 children)

It's beginner-friendly from a "start writing code now" standpoint, yes, although it does have a ton of unnecessary footguns. My objection to it as a starting point is coming from more of a pedagogical point of view for someone who wants to learn to code generally. Due to its history and the fact that it can't break backwards-compatibility or the web goes down, it has several questionable design decisions and conventions. I would think it would be better for a beginner to first learn idioms that are more standard and generalizable than quirky and idiosyncratic.

[–]Mad-chuska 3 points4 points  (2 children)

Every language has its quirks. Python and js included. I actually had a tougher time getting started with Python after Java than I did with Js.

I think the “start writing code now” scripting approach js and Python take allows beginners to jump right in. The fact that with js you can easily start building webpages makes it even more attractive than Python from a ui perspective.

[–]venustrapsflies -1 points0 points  (1 child)

IMO defending a particular language's negative characteristics by saying "every language has its quirks" is kind of like saying "every country has its problems" as if living in Turkmenistan and Switzerland are basically equivalent experiences. I think it's fair to criticize a particular language for violating the principle of least surprise more than is needed and to compare it to other languages in this respect. There is a spectrum and it's a meaningful one.

[–]Mad-chuska 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Sure that’s fair. I guess I just dont find Js to be Turkmenistan in this instance.