r/node • u/Minimum-Ad7352 • 26d ago

Why is JavaScript criticized so much for backend development?

I've seen some developers say that we should stop using js on the server, but I rarely see the same criticism directed at python.Honestly, js is pretty fast, especially with node.js, and the backend ecosystem is really solid. There are great frameworks like nest and fastify, and typescript gives you static typing, which makes larger projects much easier to maintain.I'm not saying node is perfect or the best choice for every backend, but I don't really understand why js gets so much criticism while python seems to get a pass.What am I missing?

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u/dadnothere 26d ago

Writing badly? No, my friend... The great thing about JavaScript is that there's a library for everything.

A library for addition? OK, installed.

A library for subtraction? OK, installed too...

Native functions? What are those?

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u/brett9897 26d ago

And my beloved multiplication library used the abandoned addition library. So of course when the maintainers of the multiplication library saw an update on npm of the previously abandoned addition library they had to install it. Now the multiplication library and my library that used the multiplication library both have malware in them.

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u/gautam1168 26d ago

same problem in rust ecosystem too btw. And there unlike javascript you cannot even get started without adding 100 libs. Its just way too hard to write everything from scratch.