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    Angus Croll

    javascriptweblog.wordpress.com · Personal blog · on HN since 2010

    Angus Croll writes about JavaScript patterns and language details, including mixins, the comma operator, and typeof.

    Visit blogHN submissions
    Web DevelopmentProgrammingLanguages & Compilers
    What HN says

    One HN commenter calls it hands down their favorite JavaScript blog, though it notes updates have become rare.

    Stats for nerds
    64HN people shared it
    85linked in comments
    1.1Kstory points
    Oct 2021last shared
    2010people per year2021

    Top posts on HN

    1. 1
      Finally someone makes sense of JavaScript's this keyword
      2 people · 241 points · first shared 2010 · 52 comments on HN
    2. 2
      JavaScript Prototypes Made Easy
      4 people · 150 points · first shared 2010 · 33 comments on HN
    3. 3
      No ifs...alternatives to statement branching in JavaScript
      2 people · 89 points · first shared 2010 · 44 comments on HN
    4. 4
      JS.Next Needs You
      2 people · 74 points · first shared 2012 · 28 comments on HN
    5. 5
      The JavaScript Comma Operator
      5 people · 73 points · first shared 2011 · 19 comments on HN
    6. 6
      The Secret Life of JavaScript Primitives
      2 people · 71 points · first shared 2010 · 5 comments on HN
    7. 7
      JavaScript Mixins for grown-ups
      7 people · 66 points · first shared 2011 · 7 comments on HN
    8. 8
      Rethinking JavaScript for-loops
      1 person · 38 points · first shared 2010 · 16 comments on HN
    9. 9
      "Prototype.js and Mootools did not break the web"
      2 people · 35 points · first shared 2011 · 7 comments on HN
    10. 10
      Understanding JavaScript Arrays
      1 person · 34 points · first shared 2010 · 14 comments on HN

    What HN people wrote when they linked it

    • jonahxMar 2013

      I don't believe so. It sounds like he prefers using function declations to function expressions. And this is incorrect according to most js gurus. For example:

      http://javascriptweblog.wordpress.com/2010/07/06/function-declarations-vs-function-expressions/

      From that link:

      "b) Function Expressions are more versatile. A Function Declaration can only exist as a “statement” in isolation. All it can do is create an object variable parented by its current scope. In contrast a Function Expression (by definition) is part of a larger construct. If you want to create an anonymous function or assign a function to a prototype or as a property of some other object you need a Function Expression. Whenever you create a new function using a high order application such as curry or compose you are using a Function Expression. Function Expressions and Functional Programming are inseparable."

      Also this link: http://kangax.github.com/nfe/

      brings up these disadvantages to function declarations:

      * can't conditionally declare functions with consistent results across browsers
      * function declarations cannot appear in blocks (technically), though many implementations allow this in practice

      finally, i'd argue that function expressions encourage you to think of functions as the first class objects js intended them to be

    • malandrewFeb 2012

      The only other video that sticks out in mine head is this Google Tech Talk by Nicholas Zakas about javascript performance.

      http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mHtdZgou0qU

      Besides videos, check out Javascript Garden:

      http://bonsaiden.github.com/JavaScript-Garden/

      Javascript Weblog:

      http://javascriptweblog.wordpress.com/

      Here are some links over on Quora:

      http://www.quora.com/What-are-the-best-resources-for-learning-JavaScript

      The three books worth getting for someone who is already a programmer are:
      Crockford's "Javascript: The Good Parts",
      Stoyan Stefanov's "Javascript Patterns",
      and Resigs's "Secrets of the Javascript Ninja"

      IMHO, there are few videos worthwhile.

    • hkuoMar 2013

      I learned this method with the book JavaScript the Good Parts, though it was a while ago and I can't remember the specific reasoning behind the books' recommendation.

      From the other commenter's SO link, I found this link to go more in depth into the differences of declaring functions, and it seems to come down to having stricter control on the order of events with no surprises.

      http://javascriptweblog.wordpress.com/2010/07/06/function-declarations-vs-function-expressions/

      And here's an example of one of the surprises you'll run into if you don't declare your functions in this way:
      http://www.adequatelygood.com/JavaScript-Scoping-and-Hoisting.html

    • MarsAscendantJan 2019

      Interesting. I stopped touching frameworks on my second year in. It's the same problem I have with trying to develop within the constraints of someone else's work: I find it confusing and anxiety-inducing.

      I'd rather write my own stuff, unless I'm woefully unequipped to to begin with. (Cryptography, authentification, credit card handling...) I feel like I'd learned quite a bit of JavaScript, specifically – especially with the help of someone like Angus Croll [https://javascriptweblog.wordpress.com/].

      I'm not that clever a JS developer – or a programmer, for that matter – so his `compose()` and `curry()` sound magical to me.

    • epidemianJul 2013

      Yep, it seems it was added on Firefox 22: https://developer.mozilla.org/en-US/docs/Web/JavaScript/Reference/arrow_functions. It also seems it's the proposal for ES6: http://wiki.ecmascript.org/doku.php?id=harmony:arrow_function_syntax.

      This blog post explains the differences between these functions and current functions: http://javascriptweblog.wordpress.com/2012/04/09/javascript-fat-city/; i wish the unbound "->" alternative is included, so that functions used as methods can also use the new syntax.

    • rankoMar 2016

      "If Hemingway Wrote Javascript" (https://www.nostarch.com/hemingway, see also https://javascriptweblog.wordpress.com/2015/01/05/if-hemingway-wrote-javascript-explained/), in which five short programs are each written in five different styles (all in Javascript). It shows how different programming styles can be used in the same language to solve the same problem. It's unlikely that you'll start writing in the style of Borges or Austen after reading this, but it is entertaining and amusing.

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