Episode 120: CoffeeScript

05/10/11 • 14 min

Learn how you can write less code with CoffeeScript the Javascript compiler.

Visual Event – Bookmarklet that lets you see Javascript click events assigned to elements
Open Signals Map – Mashup of cell providers towers and cell usage.

As of March 16, 2011, CoffeeScript is on GitHub’s list of most-watched projects
A Ruby/Python inspired language that compiles down to Readable/Lint compatible Javascript
CoffeeScript claims to reduce the number of lines needed to be written to 1/3 of hand written JS
Because CoffeeScript compiles predictably to JavaScript, programs can be written with less code (typically 1/3 fewer lines) with no effect on runtime performance.
Who is using it?
- Used in production by 37Signals
- Used in the Ars Technica reader for iPad
Some advantages
- It is still compatible with Node.js, jquery, or any other framework
- Removes noise
- adds keywords, classes, and features like heredocs to make coding cleaner
- It is said to be faster to code in CoffeeScript once you learn the ropes
Some potential downsides
- Debugging a coffeescript script still requires you read the generated Javascript code, which can be tedious, since you haven’t actually written it yourself.
CoffeeScript – Compiler-for-Windows

Learn how you can write less code with CoffeeScript the Javascript compiler.

Visual Event – Bookmarklet that lets you see Javascript click events assigned to elements
Open Signals Map – Mashup of cell providers towers and cell usage.

As of March 16, 2011, CoffeeScript is on GitHub’s list of most-watched projects
A Ruby/Python inspired language that compiles down to Readable/Lint compatible Javascript
CoffeeScript claims to reduce the number of lines needed to be written to 1/3 of hand written JS
Because CoffeeScript compiles predictably to JavaScript, programs can be written with less code (typically 1/3 fewer lines) with no effect on runtime performance.
Who is using it?
- Used in production by 37Signals
- Used in the Ars Technica reader for iPad
Some advantages
- It is still compatible with Node.js, jquery, or any other framework
- Removes noise
- adds keywords, classes, and features like heredocs to make coding cleaner
- It is said to be faster to code in CoffeeScript once you learn the ropes
Some potential downsides
- Debugging a coffeescript script still requires you read the generated Javascript code, which can be tedious, since you haven’t actually written it yourself.
CoffeeScript – Compiler-for-Windows

Thanks Phil!

Find out how your favorite mashup webapp works.