[gmt2027]

This isn't quite fair. The problem is that JavaScript expertise is still volatile. It is a use it or lose it skill. It quickly becomes alien unless you stay on the threadmill and keep up with the developments, patterns and tooling. I admit syntax is not actually difficult to relearn but patterns take time to acquire.

I've been programming for over 20 years and the languages and frameworks I favour have a sticky quality. These are the ones I can put away for years, return, get back into it and pick up new features in a few hours at most. The cognitive load of getting back into them are low.

I picked up django around 2011 and moved on to other things including JavaScript at the time. When I needed to build a Django project in 2016, there were some improvements and new features but the syntax, tooling and patterns were the same. It was possible to just jump right back in after a quick skim of the docs. It is possible to develop mastery of this stack, set it down for a few years and return to it with familiarity and continue on that journey.

The JavaScript ecosystem in that period however has pulled off a massive amount of transformation. I learned the basics of jQuery, yui, knockout, emberjs, backbone, coffeescript, ecmascript X, knockout, baconjs, rxjs, react with classes, react with hooks, redux, typescript, nextjs, react server components, react native, graphql, assemblyscript and on and on. It has been impossible for me to develop any deep mastery of anything in the JavaScript space. This does not even include the insane tooling with vague overlapping responsibilities. The closest I have found to reasonable stability in this area has been clojurescript with reagent.

I am constantly stuck in tutorial mode when I need to dive back into the frontend. I recently upgraded a 4 year old Django codebase in 2 hours. I am ripping out all of the react code because it is just not worth the effort any more. The tooling, dependencies and patterns are now outdated. HTMX has that simplicity and elegance that will keep the cognitive load manageable while I focus on the real problems.

[miiiiiike]

> This isn't quite fair. The problem is that JavaScript expertise is still volatile. It is a use it or lose it skill.

This is true of most of almost all living technologies.

> When I needed to build a Django project in 2016, there were some improvements and new features but the syntax, tooling and patterns were the same.

Python and Django both underwent major transformations between 2011 and 2016. That was the 2->3 transition, class based views, channels, packaging was heating up, async came, and there were several syntax and libraries improvements. Were you more comfortable with Python at the time, is that why it was easier to get back into it?

Most Angular 2+ apps written in 2014 have essentially the same architecture as an Angular app written in 2024 (Directives, Components, Services, Pipes, etc, etc).

What you're describing reads like putting down any living technology and picking it back up again a few years later.

[daswerth]

> This is true of most of almost all living technogies.

It's not really true for any other programming language. If I'm an expert in Java 8, I can build and ship a product using it. I don't need to be up-to-date in my knowledge of Java 17. Same holds for almost every language.

Javascript is an exception because you don't get to decide which version to deploy, so you have to constantly be keeping up with it.