Products · Product
CoffeeScript
Raised as a usability problem by 48 people on Hacker News over 14 years (2010–2023), in 36 threads.
No issue was raised by at least 3 people in 3 threads this year.
No issue was raised by at least 3 people in 3 threads in the last 5 years.
Every issue, all time, most people first
Ambiguous syntax makes code hard to parse and understandUnreviewed
20102026- Syntax is ambiguous to read and causes repeated parsing error debugging2023-02-28
- Ambiguous syntax makes code hard to parse and understand2019-10-13
- Implicit syntax makes outcomes unclear until the author learns to add parentheses2017-06-19
Compiled output makes debugging harder than plain JavaScriptUnreviewed
20102026- Debugging machine-generated CoffeeScript output in Chrome dev tools is ugly and hard2017-06-19
- Errors reference compiled JavaScript lines, not the CoffeeScript source being written2012-11-30
- Compiled CoffeeScript makes debugging harder than plain JavaScript2010-10-07
Unreviewed issues were grouped by machine: Claude Haiku labelled each comment as a usability complaint, named what it's about and summed up the problem in a line, and a small model grouped similar problems. Nobody has checked them by hand. Expect mistakes.
The newest 50 complaints
- Syntax is ambiguous to read and causes repeated parsing error debugging2023-02-28
- Hard to read other projects' code; lacks visible syntax cues to guide reading2019-10-13
- Ambiguous syntax makes code hard to parse and understand2019-10-13
- Compile step is painful, and debugging with source maps and watchers is hard2017-09-18
- Implicit delimiting is non-intuitive, so you must compile to JS to check grouping2017-06-20
- Implicit syntax makes outcomes unclear until the author learns to add parentheses2017-06-19
- Unclear where code blocks begin and end, hard to read and debug2017-06-19
- Debugging machine-generated CoffeeScript output in Chrome dev tools is ugly and hard2017-06-19
- Pressing back takes you through many history entries instead of leaving the page2017-04-17
- Author detests implicit function call and object literal syntax, finding it hard to work with2017-04-04
- Whitespace mistakes silently become bugs, with no error shown to the user2016-02-27
- Hard to remember ambiguous syntax like 'in' versus 'of'; confusing comprehensions and scoping2016-01-29
- Indentation silently changes program behaviour, and omitted brackets cause accidental no-op calls2016-01-29
- Chained comparison operators produce confusing results that are hard to read and reason about2016-01-04
- Syntax is confusing; team members kept asking how to do basic things2014-11-21
- Implicit returns make debugging hard, so developers must compile code to see intent2014-11-21
- Significant-whitespace and implicit comma syntax is hard to read and parse in large code2014-10-02
- Ambiguous syntax and undocumented rules make code unpredictable and hard to learn2014-03-30
- Author couldn't figure out how to write the code they wanted2014-03-30
- Implicit scoping makes code ambiguous and hard to reason about2014-03-30
- Trailing unless clause forces reading the statement backwards, hard to parse2014-03-30
- Optional braces cause confusing parse errors and hidden bugs2014-02-13
- Calling functions without arguments needs parens, else silently returns the function2014-01-25
- Writing simple setTimeout-style calls is hard to recall and not intuitive2014-01-13
- Stack traces are unintelligible, so you can't tell which line failed a test2013-10-16
- Documentation page is hard to read and has many typos2013-07-03
- Compiler reports syntax errors in confusing places or misreads intended code2013-04-15
- Nested callback syntax is hard to read and follow2013-03-17
- Errors reference compiled JavaScript lines, not the CoffeeScript source being written2012-11-30
- Implicit parentheses and significant indentation make some code hard to read and easy to misparse2012-09-17
- Awkward syntax when passing callbacks first, forcing workaround wrapper functions2012-09-17
- Parsing rules are undocumented, so ambiguous compilation results are hard to predict2012-09-17
- Last evaluated expression silently becomes the return value, ending jQuery each loops early2012-09-13
- Parsing behaviour is unpredictable and undocumented, so users must learn it by trial and error2012-09-13
- Syntax rules are unknowable, so writing parseable code requires constant trial and error2012-09-13
- Commenter finds the language unusable and unreadable compared to plain JavaScript2012-04-10
- Page is twice the browser width, forcing awkward viewing2012-03-06
- Implicit scoping causes subtle bugs that are hard to track down2011-12-22
- Easy to accidentally create top-level symbols that cause subtle bugs far later2011-12-22
- Hard to tell nesting depth from indentation when deeply indented and block start is off-screen2011-11-30
- Setting up auto-compiling .coffee files on each OS is more trouble than it's worth2011-11-07
- Finds the syntax very confusing to read and write2011-11-06
- Function definition syntax is unintuitive, with Ruby-like expectations broken by quirks2011-10-02
- No keyboard way to advance slides, forcing mouse clicks2011-09-09
- Wrapped if conditions need exact indentation or the code silently errors2011-09-09
- Two '!' symbols look like they mean different things, and their syntax highlighting suggests a different meaning2011-08-30
- Code is unreadable for JavaScript developers; magic variables like @options and @el are unclear2011-08-22
- Extra compile step is annoying when returning to old projects2011-06-22
- Loose syntax forces guess-and-check compiling; debugging adds extra complexity layer2011-06-22
- Hard to tell which words are function calls and which are arguments when reading code2011-05-12