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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
- Fast898
- 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
- Its everywhere12
- Setup is easy12
- 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
- For the good parts8
- Powerful8
- Can be used both as frontend and backend as well8
- No need to use PHP8
- Easy to hire developers8
- Most Popular Language in the World8
- Its fun and fast7
- Hard not to use7
- Versitile7
- Nice7
- It's fun7
- 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
- Can be used on frontend/backend/Mobile/create PRO Ui6
- Easy to make something6
- It let's me use Babel & Typescript6
- 1.6K Can be used on frontend/backend6
- Client side JS uses the visitors CPU to save Server Res6
- Scope manipulation5
- Clojurescript5
- Everywhere5
- What to add5
- Promise relationship5
- Stockholm Syndrome5
- Function expressions are useful for callbacks5
- Client processing5
- Only Programming language on browser4
- Because it is so simple and lightweight4
- Test21
- Hard to learn1
- Subskill #41
- Not the best1
- Easy to learn and test1
- Easy to understand1
- Easy to learn1
- Test1
- Hard 彤0
Pros of Python
- Great libraries1.2K
- Readable code964
- Beautiful code847
- Rapid development788
- Large community691
- Open source438
- Elegant393
- Great community282
- Object oriented273
- Dynamic typing221
- Great standard library77
- Very fast60
- Functional programming55
- Easy to learn51
- Scientific computing46
- Great documentation35
- Productivity29
- Easy to read28
- Matlab alternative28
- Simple is better than complex24
- It's the way I think20
- Imperative19
- Very programmer and non-programmer friendly18
- Free18
- 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
- Print "life is short, use python"7
- Python has great libraries for data processing7
- Rapid Prototyping6
- Readability counts6
- Now is better than never6
- Great for tooling6
- Flat is better than nested6
- Although practicality beats purity6
- I love snakes6
- High Documented language6
- There should be one-- and preferably only one --obvious6
- Fast coding and good for competitions6
- Web scraping5
- Lists, tuples, dictionaries5
- Great for analytics5
- Easy to setup and run smooth4
- Easy to learn and use4
- Plotting4
- Beautiful is better than ugly4
- Multiple Inheritence4
- Socially engaged community4
- Complex is better than complicated4
- CG industry needs4
- Simple and easy to learn4
- It is Very easy , simple and will you be love programmi3
- Flexible and easy3
- 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
- List comprehensions3
- No cruft3
- Generators3
- Import this3
- Powerful language for AI3
- 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
- Batteries included2
- Good for hacking2
- Securit2
- Procedural programming1
- Best friend for NLP1
- Slow1
- Automation friendly1
- Sexy af1
- Ni0
- Keep it simple0
- Powerful0
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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