Closure definitely has a steeper learning curve. I also agree that it's not always realistic to use it.
- The official docs are basically non-existent.
- If you're lucky enough to realize that GitHub wiki has better docs, good luck figuring them out.
- Even though the support for node_modules is kinda finally there, it's still impossible to figure out how to reliably set the compiler in a way that recognizes them.
My old-ish rant about this: https://gist.github.com/dmitriid/7bd6f2c10d263bae40e0addc7ed...