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I've spent a lot of the past decade writing Javascript. The language was rough at first--just like the browsers that implemented it--but over time it's evolved into an incredible environment. I particularly like the way it filched features from Perl, another language that I happen to like.

If I had to reduce my Javascript programming philosophy to three words, I'd choose the title of Paul Graham's essay, "Succinctness is Power". Every profession--medical, legal, engineering, programming--has shorthand incantations that save time and reduce ambiguity. As outsiders, we look at another profession's shorthand with disdain and confusion. Some of the methods I advocate here will probably trigger objections along the lines of "That's not clear enough, it's better to spell it out so everyone understands what you're doing." I say that it's worth learning the shorthand of Javascript, it will serve you well in the long run.

Mainly, I've created this blog as a fun outlet for little tidbits about programming in Javascript. In particular, it will discuss my favorite features of Javascript, ones I think deserve more attention. Javascript isn't just in browsers, either; you can write programs for Windows Scripting Host (WSH) and Active Server Pages (ASP) in Javascript too. I have a few tidbits for Javascript in those environments as well.

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