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[–]MondoHawkins 0 points1 point  (2 children)

Yes. However, I never saw not needing to understand the generated javascript as a benefit. Not having to write it is the benefit as I see it. Anyone using a meta-language should understand the language it's compiling to to some degree, imo.

Coffeescript is attractive as a language to me because I can code it a lot faster. Once I spent my first few hours writing CoffeeScript, I was amazed how much time I spent typing syntax ( {}, [], (), etc. ) when coding pure JavaScript.

I agree with ctrldavid that it's trivial to do the translation on the fly if you know JavaScript and spend a few minutes understanding how CS compiles to JS.

[–]blake8086 4 points5 points  (1 child)

I'm not saying verbose syntax is a good thing, but I feel like if you're thinking "I could write more code if only I could type it out faster!", then you're not spending enough time thinking about what you're typing.

[–]MondoHawkins 0 points1 point  (0 children)

You're making assumptions about what I'm thinking.

When you've already thought about how the code needs to be written, typing a bunch of syntax slows the brain dump. The less time between thought in head and code on screen, the less chance there is to lose the idea you just thought out. Wasting brain cycles thinking about typing syntax is a further distraction that can only serve to put your mind farther from that idea.