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Comment by IsaacSchlueter | Hacker News Reader

    A compiler that did an 'identity compilation' on a strict 
    subset of real JavaScript, and rejected any problematic 
    or confusing constructs would have value.

It would. But it would be a linter, not a compiler.

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It would only be a linter if it weren't a compiler. If it compiles language X to language X, it's a compiler. Because it compiles. Rule of thumb: if it compiles, it's a compiler, not a linter. Simple. Like ducks.

What if it compiles language X to language Y, where Y is the union of all the valid programs in X with a set of possible descriptive error strings?

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