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Potential Client Server Common Languages, some examples:

	JavaScript

	Clojure

	CoffeeScript 

	Python (http://pythonfiddle.com/)

	Ruby & RubyJS

	Java GWT

There's already a couple of popular languages that compile to JavaScript:

	Dart is coming too late to introduce a new language.

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www.dartexperience.com

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First, the Flash run-time is incredibly tiny. It used to be under 1MB, and it's still not all that much bigger. Compare to browsers that need 100MB to display "Hello, World".

Second, Flash can display without loading the entire file. It's an animation format, remember. There are two streams, a timeline of events and a collection of assets (images, etc.) As soon as some timeline data and the assets called out in it have been loaded, play can start. Files are explicitly laid out in time order of use. That was a really good design decision.

Java is just loading and running programs. There's nothing special about the way it starts. First the VM has to load, then the JIT compiler has to do its thing, and then you get to execute something. There's no explicit concept of time, as their is with Flash files.

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Harry October 19, 2011 at 7:32 am

Using high level languages like GWT or Dart does not mean that you don’t have to care about HTML and CSS anymore (this is a precondition IMO). You don’ t have to care about Javascript and it’s different browser implementations.

However, Dart does not try to shield you from Javascript. It gives you a language that can be used instead of Javascript. The Dart-to-Javascript compiler is only a vehicle for running your Dart implementations on any browser, regardless if it supports the native Dart VM. The real benefit of GWT and Dart is that they perfectly scale in developer productivity for big projects. Javascript itself seems to have its problem in this area, otherwise Google would not introduce a new language (and I think they have the experience to deal with really big JS projects).

PS: Javascript developers are not the only Web developers.

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asman Hayes October 23, 2011 at 5:33 pm

Thanks Craig for the article. I’ve been finding your posts stimulating – thank you! :-)

+1 for Niels comment:

Love JavaScript for smaller work.

For larger work, I want good code structure. Well structured code makes for faster programmer ramp-up, simpler maintenance & extension, easier collaboration, less bugs. And less pain.

While great structure is possible in JavaScript, it is not an intrinsic strength of JavaScript.

For web apps with complex front-ends, I will consider GWT (and in future Dart) versus JavaScript-with-well-planned-structure.

I’d love to see some articles on achieving great structure in JavaScript.

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