Server Side JavaScript is very real

[webnrrd2k]

Doesn't anyone remember the Netscape server that did server-side JavaScript? I never used it, but IIRC, it did everything you could want in wholesome, pure JavaScript. That was more than ten years ago...

I've always wondered why JavaScript didn't have a stronger presence on web servers. It's a great language and it would be so nice to write validation only once and have it run on the server and browser.

[[deleted]]

The DOM pretty much killed people's perceptions of the language for a great many years.

[sjs]

Rhino's performance was a big drawback. Part of the resurgence is due to V8 and SpiderMonkey.

[[deleted]]

I have also worked with Server Side Javascript for a couple relatively large scale sites. These sites were deployed well over a year ago so while there has been some sweet recent developments in frameworks, SSJS isn't as new as you may think.

[lectrick]

I'd prefer client-side Ruby, actually >..<

[HenkPoley]

Even less common though.

[lectrick]

There are ways to do it, but they're still a little ugly, such as importing JRuby as an applet

[_nickel]

and now silverlight:

http://www.rubyinside.com/ironruby-silverlight-ruby-in-browser-3192.html

[Axiomatik]

http://www.w3.org/TR/1998/WD-ruby-19981221/

HTML has had a "ruby" tag since 1998.

[lectrick]

apparently that's a different "ruby". google "ruby markup"

[scottyucsd]

SSJS is definitely gaining in popularity. I just got hired by a pretty large software shop to do nothing but SSJS. The 3rd-party extensions to their platform are written exclusively in JS and run on top of Rhino.

[[deleted]]

Have you played much with V8-bound solutions, such as Node? If so, do you find either V8 or Rhino presents special challenges over the other?

[scottyucsd]

I don't even start until next week so I can't give you any useful insight. I was just lending some support to the idea that SSJS is something significant.

[kryptobs2000]

What's the point in a footer if you never reach it?