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Babel vs CoffeeScript: What are the differences?

# Introduction
When it comes to JavaScript development, developers often rely on tools like Babel and CoffeeScript to improve their coding experience. Understanding the key differences between these two popular tools can help developers make informed choices about which one to use for their projects.

1. **Syntax**: Babel is a transpiler that focuses on converting modern JavaScript code (ES6/ES7) into an older version that can run on any browser, while CoffeeScript is a language that compiles into JavaScript, offering a different syntax that some developers find easier to read and write.

2. **EcmaScript Compatibility**: Babel strictly adheres to the EcmaScript standards and aims to provide compatibility with all the new features of the language, whereas CoffeeScript introduces its own set of syntax rules and features which may not always align perfectly with the latest JavaScript standards.

3. **Ease of Learning**: Babel requires developers to have a good understanding of modern JavaScript features and syntax to effectively use it, whereas CoffeeScript provides a simpler and more concise syntax that is easier for beginners to learn and master quickly.

4. **Community Support**: Babel has a larger and more active community of developers contributing to its development and maintenance, enabling faster updates and improved features, while CoffeeScript, although still popular, has a comparatively smaller community which may result in slower bug fixes and fewer resources available.

5. **Integration with Build Tools**: Babel seamlessly integrates with popular build tools like webpack, Babelify, and more, making it a preferred choice for projects that require a robust build pipeline, whereas CoffeeScript's integration with build tools may require additional configurations and plugins to work effectively in complex build environments.

6. **Code Transparency**: Babel produces code that closely resembles the original JavaScript source code, making it easier to debug and maintain, while CoffeeScript's compiled JavaScript code may not always be as readable or straightforward, potentially increasing debugging time and effort for developers.

In Summary, Babel and CoffeeScript offer distinct advantages and trade-offs in terms of syntax, compatibility, learning curve, community support, integration with build tools, and code transparency, making it essential for developers to consider these differences when choosing the best tool for their JavaScript projects.
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Pros of Babel
Pros of CoffeeScript
  • 165
    Modern Javascript works with all browsers
  • 77
    Open source
  • 60
    Integration with lots of tools
  • 56
    Easy setup
  • 26
    Very active on github
  • 2
    JSX
  • 2
    Love
  • 2
    Source maps
  • 1
    Extensions
  • 199
    Easy to read
  • 179
    Faster to write
  • 126
    Syntactic sugar
  • 104
    Readable
  • 104
    Elegant
  • 73
    Pretty
  • 53
    Javascript the good parts
  • 48
    Open source
  • 44
    Classes
  • 35
    "it's just javascript"
  • 16
    Compact code
  • 15
    Easy
  • 13
    Simple
  • 13
    Not Javascript
  • 2
    Does the same with less code
  • 1
    I'm jobs I'm software engineer

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Cons of Babel
Cons of CoffeeScript
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    • 3
      No ES6
    • 1
      Corner cases in syntax
    • 1
      Parentheses required in 0-ary function calls
    • 1
      Unclear what will be grouped to {…}

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    What is Babel?

    Babel will turn your ES6+ code into ES5 friendly code, so you can start using it right now without waiting for browser support.

    What is CoffeeScript?

    It adds syntactic sugar inspired by Ruby, Python and Haskell in an effort to enhance JavaScript's brevity and readability. Specific additional features include list comprehension and de-structuring assignment.

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    What companies use Babel?
    What companies use CoffeeScript?
    See which teams inside your own company are using Babel or CoffeeScript.
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    What tools integrate with Babel?
    What tools integrate with CoffeeScript?

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    What are some alternatives to Babel and CoffeeScript?
    Webpack
    A bundler for javascript and friends. Packs many modules into a few bundled assets. Code Splitting allows to load parts for the application on demand. Through "loaders" modules can be CommonJs, AMD, ES6 modules, CSS, Images, JSON, Coffeescript, LESS, ... and your custom stuff.
    TypeScript
    TypeScript is a language for application-scale JavaScript development. It's a typed superset of JavaScript that compiles to plain JavaScript.
    ESLint
    A pluggable and configurable linter tool for identifying and reporting on patterns in JavaScript. Maintain your code quality with ease.
    rollup
    It is a module bundler for JavaScript which compiles small pieces of code into something larger and more complex, such as a library or application. It uses the new standardized format for code modules included in the ES6 revision of JavaScript, instead of previous idiosyncratic solutions such as CommonJS and AMD.
    Modernizr
    It’s a collection of superfast tests or detects as we like to call them which run as your web page loads, then you can use the results to tailor the experience to the user. It tells you what HTML, CSS and JavaScript features the user’s browser has to offer.
    See all alternatives