About two days ago the article How it feels to learn JavaScript in 2016was published, and like all others related to this same subject, it is getting a lot of attention. The thousands of “recommend” (currently in ~6.5k, Medium only) can tell how everything that is written is totally true and that this same feeling is being shared among a lot of us developers. However, there is a problem. The article, and that bad feeling, is not about learning JavaScript, but is just about Front End and its current ecosystem.
You can see it at the first answer of his imaginary friend:
“- The actual term is Front End engineer, but yeah …”
See, the subject says about JavaScript in 2016, but it sounds like it dates from somewhere around 2006. When JavaScript could mean Front End, only.
Unfortunately this is not an isolated case. Google for “Javascript Fatigue” and you will find tons of results, but, stop to take a closer look and you will see that the great majority of them are all related to Front End. I could bet that the first result in your SERP will be Javascript Fatigue, which is another great article on this topic, but also, is all about the Front End ecosystem (React specifically)
All usually talks about React, Angular, Knockout, RequireJS, Webpack, Browserify, transpilers, bundlers, polyfills, shims and others frameworks, libs, tools and strategies to deal with Front End issues.
While Front End programming still means JavaScript, JS is not meant just for it anymore. And i don’t think you don’t know it. I surely know you know it. Node.js and the great adoption of it by big companies (some case studies) to handle Back End and not Front End, the use of JavaScript within IoT, etc. This is not news.
However, we keep getting “JavaScript” when searching for “Front End” on our mental databases. They meant the same for such a long time, that it became a habit to us to relate them. Even knowing that is not easy to get rid of a habit, maybe it is time to force an update on our inner memory collections of definitions, to insert new associations related to JS.
At some point in the future, when thinking about your love and hate relationship with Front End, don’t include the JavaScript itself. To not put it, and all the others ecosystems as a guilty. Remember that we are talking about what we've been building with it, and putting ourselves to work with. Is not the other way around.
Let's stop blaming on JavaScript when trying to talk only about one of the environments where it is used. Let’s talk about JavaScript in 2016, having in mind what JavaScript really is in 2016.