newLisp vs node.js

[borgauf]

I'm a total beginner, but for a long time I've felt that a Lisp of some sort should be King. But then there's all this talk about javascript this, node.js that. Isn't newLisp capable of doing what node.js does, only better?

[Astrobe]

Node.js is popular because it's javascript. It let "web" developers reuse their knowledge, server-side.

Javascript itself is one of the biggest steal in CS history IMHO. The language design is full of WTFs (kind of the opposite image of Newlisp if you ask me), but it is the language of web browsers. Web browsers won, so JS won.

Browsers themselves are a poor technology. HTML, XML, CSS and JS are "resources don't matter" languages. You realize that when you have to fit the "web stack" in an embedded platform; you need far too much resources for what you want to do (except if what you want to do is really browse the web).

[cormullion]

I've been trying out the new Node.js-based editor, Atom.io. There's a lot to like about it, but the central problem is that it's slowish - it struggles with loading new documents, for example. Perhaps we all spend so much time waiting in web browsers anyway, it's not a problem... :)

[csfreebird]

The answers will be different when asking different people?
For me, node.js is slower than C++, I can develop web site using C++, C++ has the best speed, so node.js is not my first option mostly.
Node.js is JavaScript based on V8 engine, JavaScript is a dynamic language, it provides more flexibility
than static language, i.e. Java or C++. You do not need to design a class and compile it, you can change it at runtime when using JavaScript. It's great! But if you can use LISP, you will find LISP can provide more flexible features, for example, macros!

So for me, if I want to get a flexible language to create some apps without considering performance, I will choose
newLISP.

But node.js community is much larger than newLISP or other LISP communities, that means you can get many libraries or frameworks to complete your job if you choose JavaScript. For example, I do not know how to interact with MongoDB using newLISP and do not get help currently.

You should make your decision, I still choose newLISP even if I face many problems.

[obiTheOne]

Hi,

I'm a JavaScript and Lisp (Clojure) programmer, so I may give you an unbiased answer.

Node.js is great because is Js, and that means:
great community
huge ecosystem (someone already wrote an npm module with the functions that you need)
quite easy to learn
reusable skill all across the stack
JavaScript is a great language (despite all the WTF)

The bigger drawback is that Js was created to run in a brower, so if you need to use it in another environment, you basically need to embed the all "browser ecosystem"; and that could mean bad performances.

My advice is to learn pros and cons of every instrument you can use and choose the best fit for every project.