This is what JavaScript is trying to be, with the latest revision. They're explicitly trying to make it a better target language for things like ClojureScript and CoffeeScript.
Well yes, but I think the motivation here is more 'since javascript is the only game in town, we'll have to compile to that'. I am not aware of any changes made to Javascript to make it easier to compile to it. And I don't think anyone would choose Javascript as their runtime environment if they had a choice.
I like Clojure and have dabbled with clojurescript but the workflow feels pretty hacky and it is clear that this is not what javascript was made for.
Well, I am certainly not complaining, I think it is mostly just that it needs to be compiled to javascript and that you need to have the right dependencies in place. If you are compiling from the command line it takes a long time (I know this is caused by the jvm startup time, but it still is a little annoying). I know there are workarounds such as cljs-watch but setting everything up right definitely takes some time. The browser-based Repl is awesome but sometimes breaks, I don't always understand why. I do think there could be some improvements in terms of tutorials but those will surely come (I might write one...)
So if you are using it on a daily basis then all of this probably doesn't matter but it does take a bit to get started. And I think to some part this reflects the fact that, well, Javascript was not really intended to be a platform to be compiled against, it is just used that way because it is the only platform in the browser.
>>> I think to some part this reflects the fact that, well, Javascript was not really intended to be a platform to be compiled against, it is just used that way because it is the only platform in the browser.
I'm not so sure this is the case as it is VERY easy to get started with CoffeeScript and have it watch files for changes (at least on a mac with homebrew).
I've experienced general difficulty getting started with Clojure compared to something like Python or CoffeeScript. I suppose I haven't spent considerable time on it (Clojure is just a hobby for now) but the problems I've run into so far are an out of date version on homebrew (1.2 rather than 1.3) and difficulty just getting a usable REPL going (where I can edit lines and use the up-arrow). I'm very attracted to the aesthetics of Clojure but there is so much friction just to get started that I've only been using 4clojure (try-clojure has been non-functional every time I've tried it). I think this is an area that definitely needs to be addressed for Clojure/ClojureScript to get the mainstream traction that node.js/JS/CS enjoy.
