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Comment by austincheney | Hacker News Reader

Madness. Code is so much cleaner when developers drop "this" from their code.

Unlike Java, JavaScript requires "this".

Edit: I didn't realize this would be a contentious point! I'm not trying to advocate for any particular style of JavaScript, just making the point that places in Java where "this" can be omitted, in JavaScript it cannot.

Unlike JavaScript, Java requires classes.

You must not be very experienced in this language. I write all my large applications without "this". Thankfully, this isn't Java and OOP is entirely avoidable.

It does not.

Certain frameworks will encourage more of its use (such as with passing functions-as-props in React), but Javascript itself can support multiple paradigms, with the `this` keyword supporting only some of its messiest parts.

Is this true even with classes defined with the "class" keyword? I just tried it and I can't access fields without "this."

Classes are a relatively new feature to the language and certainly aren't required. Classes are a bit troublesome in that lexical scope doesn't directly apply to class parameters, which is why class parameters cannot achieve explicit privacy unlike other references in the language.

Right, I was referring to ES6 classes because that's what the article specifically refers to.

The “class” keyword was added fairly recently to simplify Java-style OO programming in JavaScript; it's true that that style of programming requires extensive use of “this” in JS, specifically because, unlike Java, JavaScript is not designed from the ground up to favor that style exclusively.

Java will probably always be a better language for writing Java than JavaScript is, but the Java-in-browsers story has sucked for a long time, so we’re stuck with people who want Java using JavaScript as Java.

So how is JavaScript supposed to be used then?

Reluctantly.

It is supposed to be used with a solid understanding of its scope model, which unlike OOP is not an avoidable quality.

Incorrect. Functional JavaScript is a horrid mess compared to well organized OOP code.

I have heard people claim this, but it is evident from their code this is the only way which they are comfortable to program. Insecurity and fear from reliance upon closure and other natural qualities of the language is not a strong justification for verbose bloated constructs lesser developers find emotional comforting.

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