Comment by jazzypants
9 hours ago
Then, why is JavaScript a compilation target? If you're not using it on the client-side, then why not stay exclusive to the BEAM?
9 hours ago
Then, why is JavaScript a compilation target? If you're not using it on the client-side, then why not stay exclusive to the BEAM?
JavaScript is useful in lots of places, and even if one compile target is especially good for in-browser user interfaces that doesn't mean that language is specifically intended for user interface development.
You can do a lot more with JavaScript than building UIs.
Yeah. I know. I use it every day. That doesn't answer my question. Why would I want to write something in Gleam if I want it to run in a JavaScript engine? When would that ever make sense? Could you please just engage with me in good faith?
Multiple compilation targets require increased implementation complexity so you would think they would have a good reason for when you would compile to one target or the other. I couldn't find any information about it on their website, so I was hoping you would actually respond with something helpful rather than... that.
So, you started by making a pointed comment about that the language has no string interpolation when it's ostensibly for building UIs, so I'm not sure why you're surprised you're getting responses like mine or the one from lpil. Gleam is not ostensibly meant for building UIs just because it targets JS, and while you don't get string interpolation in the way you might get in other languages you can go pretty far with the <> syntax.
To answer your question about why you would use Gleam when you're running code in a JS engine, it's the same about any language that compiles down to another, such as Clojure, and you can take your pick of those reasons: preference, syntax, pragmatism, etc. I'm not sure what kind of answer you're looking for beyond that.
3 replies →