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Add to SafariWhen comparing Java (via GWT) vs ElixirScript, the Slant community recommends Java (via GWT) for most people. In the question“What are the best languages that compile to JavaScript? ” Java (via GWT) is ranked 21st while ElixirScript is ranked 26th. The most important reason people chose Java (via GWT) is:
That's Java, so it is strongly typed, and we can use fully the IDE: error detection, refactoring, auto-completion, etc.
Question Ranking
Pros
Pro Strongly typed, good tooling
That's Java, so it is strongly typed, and we can use fully the IDE: error detection, refactoring, auto-completion, etc.
Pro Familiar for Java developers
Perfect if you have a strong background in Java programming, and need to code for the client side.
Pro Fantastic IDEs
Because Java is statically typed, integrated development environments (IDEs) for Java can provide a lot more feedback on errors you will encounter. Java IDEs can give you specific errors in the location where they occur without having to run the code every time. This makes is faster to debug and learn from your mistakes.
IDEs also have extensive auto complete capabilities that can help you learn the programming libraries you are using faster and tell you what functions are available.
Pro Most commonly used language in industry
Java is one of the most popular languages in industry, consistently ranking either first, or occasionally second (behind C or Javascript) in terms of usage. Polls (see sources below) show it to be consistently in high demand, particularly as measured by job board postings. This makes Java a great time investment, as you will be easily able to get a job utilizing your skills, particularly as those Java applications in production now will continue to need maintenance in the future. It also results in great support for tools and plenty of computer science books, example projects and online tutorials.
Pro Consistent programming standards
Most Java code follows very standardized coding styles. This means that when you're starting out, there are fewer questions about how you should implement something as the programming styles and patterns are well established and consistent. This consistent style means that it's often easier to follow others' example code, and that it's more likely to meet at least a certain minimum standard of quality. This discipline with consistent stylistic standards also becomes useful later, when collaborating on projects with larger teams.
Pro Highly optimized JavaScript
Produced JS is highly optimized, can be separated in modules with lazy loading, can be internationalized while loading only the chosen language.
Pro Clear syntax
Uncluttered, yet unambiguous syntax
Pro Excellent community
The Elixir community has proved to be welcoming and very supportive.
Pro Great for concurrency
Leverages the existing Erlang BEAM VM
Pro More familiar syntax
All of the benefits of Erlang; without as steep a learning curve of prolog based syntax. Elixir is heavily inspired by Ruby's syntax which many people love.
Pro Great documentation
Elixir's documentation is very good. It covers everything and always helps solving any problem you may have. It's also always available from the terminal.
Cons
Con Too verbose
- A Hello world needs package, class, static method and the actual
printf. - Reading a line from input requires instatiating 5 objects in the right order.
- Exceptions are everywhere, particularly since all values are nullable.
- Java has a getter/setter culture, but without native syntax support.
- portable Java code lacks anonymous functions, and continues to lack good support for partial application, compensating instead with verbose design patterns, kludges like anonymous inner classes, or just inline code.
- It is statically typed without type inference, with a culture that promotes long class names.
- Poor support for sum-types and pattern matching leads to overuse of inheritance for dynamic dispatch and chains of nested conditionals
Especially for beginners, this can make reading Java code feel overwhelming; most Java courses tell students to simply copy, paste, and ignore a significant percentage of the code until they've learned enough to understand what it means.
For experienced programmers, this makes Java feel tedious, especially without an IDE, and actively discourages some solutions and some forms of abstraction.
