Javascript: The Good Parts... Required reading?

[Andrew Starks <andrew.starks@...>]

I didn't know _javascript_. I might be the only one here that can say that... Or the only one willing to admit it.

I thought I needed to pick it up, so I got this book. It gave me new perspective. I now appreciate Lua much more, simply because I'd never want Lua to approach the craziness of that language. 

===, "this" madness with functions that are within methods, "new", the way that you can't really avoid polluting the global namespace...

Things may have changed, I may have some of it wrong and I'm sure I'm not catching some of the "advantages", but I think I have the essence correct: _javascript_ has had waaaay too many "great ideas" added to it. 

I did not anticipate that, after reading this book, my tolerance for building castles in the sky would be far less. 

--Andrew

*17 years ago, we released the world's first HTML-based tv automation software to non-profit cable access stations. Within this niche, was unique in the way it scheduled.

Instead of programming VCRs to "play at 13:30:00" and then to "stop and rewind at 13:34:17", you simply told it to "play the Fifth Grade Concert at 13:00:00" or (gasp), you could even say "1pm"!! It automatically assigned VCRs to run programs, checked for conflicts and otherwise reduced people's workload by a factor of 4 (according to one workflow study by one customer of ours).

In sales demos, almost without fail, people would ask: "How do I assign the show to a VCR?", or basically, they'd ask a series of questions that amounted to, "I hate my old system and all the pain it puts me through. I love your system! It's so awesome!!! Now, how can I make your system operate in the exact same way as my old system, because that's what I'm use to?"

I guess this wasn't a unique experience. Perhaps it's a pattern that deserves a name?