JavaScript Annotations
Improving Code Assist
https://github.com/Nodeclipse/nodeclipse-1/issues/7
You know, one of the big problem we have in Nodeclipse
is #7 Improving Code Assist. But this is actually problem of JavaScript language itself.
In statically typed language you already have all needed information right in the code.
Personally I believed that Java is superior language (though I very often used scripting Windows batch, Groovy,
and recently Node.js utils installed via npm), until I read this today
Quote from “Hackers & Painters” essay by Paul Graham
Realizing this has real implications for software design. It means that a programming language should, above all, be malleable. A programming language is for thinking of programs, not for expressing programs you've already thought of. It should be a pencil, not a pen. Static typing would be a fine idea if people actually did write programs the way they taught me to in college. But that's not how any of the hackers I know write programs. We need a language that lets us scribble and smudge and smear, not a language where you have to sit with a teacup of types balanced on your knee and make polite conversation with a strict old aunt of a compiler.
That maid me think “well, maybe it is so. Scripting helps me get results quickly, however the bigger the software, the worser is the idea to use non-typed languages”.
So what for JavaScript?
JavaScript Annotations
JavaScript already has them in JSDoc, though for JavaScript it is not as standard thing as in Java JavaDoc.
However searching the web, eventhough I found some links they give me impression that there are no such things as JavaScript Annotations
JSDoc 3 is continuation of JSDoc that died. (There is also jsdox util that compiles JSDoc 3 into markdown, that I like:
$ npm install -g jsdox
)
Most of the JSDoc annotations are for documentation purposes. What could help solve #7 is
@param [type] name [description] and @returns [{type}] text
If those type values are just basic JavaScript types, there’s no big help,
but what if to reference other classes in JavaScript by using relative file name, for example.
Dear Nodeclipse users, just use JSdoc more. Any way it is good practice to document your code, and
Wish us good luck! Support us.
P.S.
Hint: In Eclipse with JSDT (you have it when Nodeclipse >0.4 is installed) select class/function, press Alt+Shift+J
/**
* @
*/
function(){
//
};
Notes/resources
developers.google.com Annotating JavaScript for the Closure Compiler
@required annotation in javascript files –> <wiki.commonjs.org/wiki/Modules/AsynchronousDefinition>
JetBrains supports
Google Closure types syntax
http://code.google.com/p/javascript-annotation/
This program gives JavaScript developers an easy way to create modular JavaScript by providing means to load files with a Java preprocessor. This is particularly useful for developing JavaScript libraries. For JavaScript applications, systems like AngularJS are more appropriate.