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Hack vs JavaScript vs Python: What are the differences?
Introduction: When it comes to programming languages, each one has its own unique features and capabilities. Hack, JavaScript, and Python are all popular languages used for different purposes, and understanding their key differences can help developers choose the right tool for their projects.
Type System: Hack is a statically typed language, meaning that variable types are explicitly declared at compile time, which can help catch errors early in the development process. JavaScript and Python, on the other hand, are dynamically typed languages, where types are determined at runtime, offering more flexibility but potentially leading to more errors.
Syntax: Hack's syntax is more similar to PHP, as it was initially developed as a dialect of PHP. JavaScript has a C-style syntax, while Python has a clean and readable syntax that emphasizes code readability and explicitness.
Tooling and Libraries: Hack was developed by Facebook and is mainly used for backend development, with a focus on scalability and performance. JavaScript is widely used for frontend web development, with frameworks like React and Angular, as well as for server-side development with Node.js. Python has a strong emphasis on simplicity and readability, with a vast ecosystem of libraries for various applications, including data science and machine learning.
Concurrency and Parallelism: Hack has built-in support for asynchronous programming through async and await keywords, making it suitable for handling concurrent operations efficiently. JavaScript also supports asynchronous programming through promises and async/await, but it lacks low-level support for concurrency. Python's Global Interpreter Lock (GIL) limits the ability to achieve true parallelism in multi-threaded applications, making it less suited for high-performance tasks that require parallel processing.
Community and Adoption: JavaScript has a large and active community, with a wide range of resources and support available. Python is also popular among developers, particularly in the fields of data science and machine learning, with a strong community and extensive documentation. Hack, while not as widely adopted as JavaScript and Python, has gained popularity in the web development community due to its enhanced type safety and performance optimizations.
In Summary, understanding the key differences between Hack, JavaScript, and Python in terms of type system, syntax, tooling, concurrency, community, and adoption can help developers choose the right language for their specific project requirements.
Pros of Hack
- Interoperates seamlessly with php6
- Open source6
- Backed by facebook5
- HHVM4
- PHP like2
- Great documentation2
- Generics2
- Fast1
- Used by facebook1
- Great type system0
- Easy to learn0
Pros of JavaScript
- Can be used on frontend/backend1.7K
- It's everywhere1.5K
- Lots of great frameworks1.2K
- Fast899
- Light weight746
- Flexible425
- You can't get a device today that doesn't run js392
- Non-blocking i/o286
- Ubiquitousness237
- Expressive191
- Extended functionality to web pages55
- Relatively easy language49
- Executed on the client side46
- Relatively fast to the end user30
- Pure Javascript25
- Functional programming21
- Async15
- Full-stack13
- Future Language of The Web12
- Setup is easy12
- Its everywhere12
- Because I love functions11
- JavaScript is the New PHP11
- Like it or not, JS is part of the web standard10
- Expansive community9
- Everyone use it9
- Can be used in backend, frontend and DB9
- Easy9
- Easy to hire developers8
- No need to use PHP8
- For the good parts8
- Can be used both as frontend and backend as well8
- Powerful8
- Most Popular Language in the World8
- Its fun and fast7
- It's fun7
- Nice7
- Versitile7
- Hard not to use7
- Popularized Class-Less Architecture & Lambdas7
- Agile, packages simple to use7
- Supports lambdas and closures7
- Love-hate relationship7
- Photoshop has 3 JS runtimes built in7
- Evolution of C7
- Easy to make something6
- It let's me use Babel & Typescript6
- Client side JS uses the visitors CPU to save Server Res6
- Can be used on frontend/backend/Mobile/create PRO Ui6
- 1.6K Can be used on frontend/backend6
- Client processing5
- What to add5
- Stockholm Syndrome5
- Function expressions are useful for callbacks5
- Scope manipulation5
- Everywhere5
- Promise relationship5
- Clojurescript5
- Because it is so simple and lightweight4
- Only Programming language on browser4
- Not the best1
- Hard to learn1
- Test1
- Easy to learn1
- Subskill #41
- Easy to learn and test1
- Love it1
- Test21
- Easy to understand1
- Hard 彤0
Pros of Python
- Great libraries1.2K
- Readable code965
- Beautiful code848
- Rapid development789
- Large community692
- Open source439
- Elegant394
- Great community283
- Object oriented274
- Dynamic typing222
- Great standard library78
- Very fast61
- Functional programming56
- Easy to learn52
- Scientific computing47
- Great documentation36
- Productivity30
- Easy to read29
- Matlab alternative29
- Simple is better than complex25
- It's the way I think21
- Imperative20
- Very programmer and non-programmer friendly19
- Free19
- Powerfull language17
- Machine learning support17
- Fast and simple16
- Scripting14
- Explicit is better than implicit12
- Ease of development11
- Clear and easy and powerfull10
- Unlimited power9
- Import antigravity8
- It's lean and fun to code8
- Python has great libraries for data processing7
- Print "life is short, use python"7
- There should be one-- and preferably only one --obvious6
- Readability counts6
- Rapid Prototyping6
- Fast coding and good for competitions6
- High Documented language6
- I love snakes6
- Now is better than never6
- Although practicality beats purity6
- Flat is better than nested6
- Great for tooling6
- Great for analytics5
- Lists, tuples, dictionaries5
- Web scraping5
- Socially engaged community4
- Simple and easy to learn4
- Easy to learn and use4
- Beautiful is better than ugly4
- Complex is better than complicated4
- Multiple Inheritence4
- Easy to setup and run smooth4
- CG industry needs4
- Plotting4
- List comprehensions3
- Powerful language for AI3
- Flexible and easy3
- It is Very easy , simple and will you be love programmi3
- Many types of collections3
- If the implementation is easy to explain, it may be a g3
- If the implementation is hard to explain, it's a bad id3
- Special cases aren't special enough to break the rules3
- Pip install everything3
- No cruft3
- Generators3
- Import this3
- Procedural programming2
- Batteries included2
- Can understand easily who are new to programming2
- Should START with this but not STICK with This2
- A-to-Z2
- Because of Netflix2
- Only one way to do it2
- Better outcome2
- Good for hacking2
- Securit2
- Slow1
- Best friend for NLP1
- Sexy af1
- Automation friendly1
- Keep it simple0
- Powerful0
- Ni0
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Cons of Hack
Cons of JavaScript
- A constant moving target, too much churn22
- Horribly inconsistent20
- Javascript is the New PHP15
- No ability to monitor memory utilitization9
- Shows Zero output in case of ANY error8
- Thinks strange results are better than errors7
- Can be ugly6
- No GitHub3
- Slow2
- HORRIBLE DOCUMENTS, faulty code, repo has bugs0
Cons of Python
- Still divided between python 2 and python 353
- Performance impact28
- Poor syntax for anonymous functions26
- GIL22
- Package management is a mess19
- Too imperative-oriented14
- Hard to understand12
- Dynamic typing12
- Very slow12
- Indentations matter a lot8
- Not everything is expression8
- Incredibly slow7
- Explicit self parameter in methods7
- Requires C functions for dynamic modules6
- Poor DSL capabilities6
- No anonymous functions6
- Fake object-oriented programming5
- Threading5
- The "lisp style" whitespaces5
- Official documentation is unclear.5
- Hard to obfuscate5
- Circular import5
- Lack of Syntax Sugar leads to "the pyramid of doom"4
- The benevolent-dictator-for-life quit4
- Not suitable for autocomplete4
- Meta classes2
- Training wheels (forced indentation)1