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Saturday, March 12, 2011

Node.js and the Javascript Tools Ecosystem

I recently have been picking up some javascript tools to test the waters of "serious" programming in that language (browser-side or otherwise). Although I've not used node.js yet for application development, it curiously shows up in several javascript-based shell tools.

And it works fine so far. My initial impression was, "Why use a web server to run shell tools?" But, e.g. docco installed perfectly using node.js and npm.

Being a skeptic, I first tried pycco, a a similar tool but more traditionally installed pythonically. Something wasn't right and it didn't run. This is just one, unfair, data point. But it was a reassuring experience that javascript tools are showing up and working fine.

Another javascript tool installed and run using node.js and npm is PEG.js, a parser generator based on, well, PEGs (parsing expression grammars).

These tools run fine, and I'm thinking they startup much more quickly than the java-based rhino javascript runtime tools. I've not bothered to investigate though.

5 comments:

Patrick Mueller said...

Are you kidding about node vs rhino performance? Some info and links here. Node is faster, and see this.

But speed isn't everything. Need to run on Windows? I don't know what the Node on windows story is. Rather use threads than async callback goop? Rhino wins there. Need to access Java junk? etc, etc.

Stefan Tilkov said...

Somebody should write a nice Lisp to run on top of the V8 VM.

Patrick Logan said...

Hi Patrick...

"Are you kidding about node vs rhino performance?"

Well, I wrote "much more quickly than rhino" I just did not want to make a concrete claim without having run rhino even once.

"But speed isn't everything."

Agreed.

"Need to run on Windows? I don't know what the Node on windows story is."

I no longer even *own* a machine with Windows, so in my case... no.

"Rather use threads than async callback goop? Rhino wins there."

I'm wondering how long before all the javascript runtimes support threads.

"Need to access Java junk?"

Not nearly as often as I used to! And most of my personal interest in javascript currently is still in the browser.

Good to hear from you.

Patrick Logan said...

"Somebody should write a nice Lisp to run on top of the V8 VM."

Hi Stefan - agreed. And I wonder how long before coffee-script, et al. blossom into a full, well-supported, "language ecosystem" on the javascript runtimes similar to what's happened the last few years on the JVM.

Good to hear from my old blogging friends.

Patrick Logan said...

"Somebody should write a nice Lisp to run on top of the V8 VM."

Well, instead I started a simple Scheme interpreter in pure javascript. Just about all it has at this point is a CPS interpreter, a trampoline, and full call/cc...

https://github.com/patrickdlogan/nconc

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About Me

Portland, Oregon, United States
I'm usually writing from my favorite location on the planet, the pacific northwest of the u.s. I write for myself only and unless otherwise specified my posts here should not be taken as representing an official position of my employer. Contact me at my gee mail account, username patrickdlogan.