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CoffeeScript VS Transcrypt

Compare CoffeeScript VS Transcrypt and see what are their differences

CoffeeScript logo CoffeeScript

Unfancy JavaScript

Transcrypt logo Transcrypt

Transcrypt is a Python to JavaScript transpiler.
  • CoffeeScript Landing page
    Landing page //
    2022-01-31

We recommend LibHunt CoffeeScript for discovery and comparisons of trending CoffeeScript projects.

  • Transcrypt Landing page
    Landing page //
    2022-07-12

CoffeeScript features and specs

  • Concise Syntax
    CoffeeScript offers a more concise and readable syntax compared to vanilla JavaScript, making it easier to write and understand code quickly.
  • Less Boilerplate
    Eliminates much of the boilerplate code that is common in JavaScript, such as curly braces and semicolons, leading to cleaner code.
  • Class Syntax
    Provides a simplified syntax for defining classes and inheritance, which can make object-oriented programming more straightforward.
  • Function Binding
    Automatically binds the value of `this` to the current context in functions, reducing the need for workarounds or additional code to manage scope.
  • List Comprehensions
    Offers powerful list comprehension features, allowing developers to create complex arrays and objects more easily.
  • Syntactic Sugar
    Adds syntactic sugar to improve code aesthetics and readability, such as the `fat arrow` for functions and destructuring assignments.
  • Interoperability
    Generates clean and readable JavaScript, which makes it easy to integrate with existing JavaScript codebases and libraries.

Possible disadvantages of CoffeeScript

  • Learning Curve
    Although inspired by JavaScript, CoffeeScript has its own unique syntax and features, requiring developers to learn and adapt to a new way of writing code.
  • Debugging
    Debugging can be challenging because error messages and stack traces often refer to the compiled JavaScript rather than the original CoffeeScript code.
  • Tooling
    Although many modern tools and editors support CoffeeScript, it doesn't have as wide an ecosystem or as many support resources compared to JavaScript.
  • Performance Overhead
    The compilation step introduces a performance overhead in the development workflow, potentially slowing down the build process.
  • Declining Popularity
    With the advent of ES6 and TypeScript, CoffeeScript's popularity has waned, leading to fewer community contributions and less frequent updates.
  • Compatibility
    Certain newer JavaScript features may not be directly supported in CoffeeScript, requiring developers to wait for updates or use workarounds.
  • Maintenance
    Maintaining a CoffeeScript codebase may become increasingly difficult as the language becomes less commonly used, making it harder to find developers proficient in it.

Transcrypt features and specs

  • Python to JavaScript Transpilation
    Transcrypt allows you to write your code in Python, which is then transpiled into JavaScript. This enables Python developers to leverage their existing knowledge and skills to develop web applications.
  • Efficiency and Performance
    Transcrypt produces highly readable and compact JavaScript code, which can be optimized for better performance. The generated code includes optional source maps for debugging.
  • Access to JavaScript Libraries
    Transcrypt allows you to use JavaScript libraries seamlessly alongside Python code, enabling integration with existing JavaScript ecosystems.
  • Static Typing
    Transcrypt supports optional static typing, which can help catch errors earlier in the development cycle and make your code more robust.
  • Advanced Features
    Transcrypt supports advanced Python features such as multiple inheritance, tuple assignment, and list comprehension, providing a rich development experience.

Possible disadvantages of Transcrypt

  • Limited Python Support
    Only a subset of Python's standard library is supported, which might limit functionality that can be directly transpiled without modifications.
  • Compatibility Issues
    Certain Python constructs and idioms may not translate well into JavaScript, requiring developers to adapt their code specifically for web environments.
  • Learning Curve
    Although it enables Python development for the web, developers need to learn about the limitations and specifics of the transpilation process, which can be a barrier.
  • Community and Support
    Transcrypt has a smaller community compared to mainstream JavaScript frameworks, which can make finding support and resources challenging.
  • Development Overhead
    Transcrypt introduces an additional step in the build process, which might increase the complexity of the development and deployment workflow.

CoffeeScript videos

CoffeeScript Tutorial

Transcrypt videos

TransCrypt Review

More videos:

  • Review - TBG - TRANSCRYPT ICO Review
  • Review - PyCon.DE 2018: Python & Javascript = Transcrypt - Andreas Bunkahle

Category Popularity

0-100% (relative to CoffeeScript and Transcrypt)
Programming Language
52 52%
48% 48
Web Scraping
100 100%
0% 0
OOP
40 40%
60% 60
Data Extraction
100 100%
0% 0

User comments

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Social recommendations and mentions

Based on our record, CoffeeScript should be more popular than Transcrypt. It has been mentiond 25 times since March 2021. We are tracking product recommendations and mentions on various public social media platforms and blogs. They can help you identify which product is more popular and what people think of it.

CoffeeScript mentions (25)

  • Ask HN: Why don't browsers just build a non-JS interpreter?
    JS isn't perfect, but it's good enough. And there is ongoing effort to make it even better. Also, many other languages compile to JS (without WASM). Notably: - https://www.typescriptlang.org/ - https://coffeescript.org/ - https://clojurescript.org/ - https://www.transcrypt.org/ I wrote https://multi-launch.leftium.com, which is only 6% JS. The majority is Svelte (65%) + TypeScript (27%). ( - Source: Hacker News / over 1 year ago
  • Vanilla+PostCSS as an Alternative to SCSS
    As a front-end web developer, do you still use CoffeeScript or jQuery? Unlikely, as TypeScript, ES/TC39 and Babel (and the retirement of Internet Explorer thanks to @codepo8 and his EDGE team) have helped to transform JavaScript into some kind of a modern programming language. - Source: dev.to / about 2 years ago
  • Why React isn't dying
    On the other hand, companies choose React because that's where all the developers are. If you want to build something that can be maintained years from now, you better not choose the next hype train that goes straight to nowhere (remember CoffeeScript ?). You want something battle tested that has stood the test of time, where you won't have trouble finding developers to scale once you need to. And nobody ever got... - Source: dev.to / over 2 years ago
  • Civet: The CoffeeScript of TypeScript
    Http://coffeescript.org/#expressions this comes from Lisp and makes a lot of things easier. Obviously this was not implemented in ES6 because it would break compatibility and there is also some problems with implicit returns that made the feature a bit weird I wonder if a syntax like this for JS would work: const eldest = if (24>41) { escape "Liz" } else { escape "Ike" } with "escape" working like a mix of "break"... - Source: Hacker News / over 2 years ago
  • Civet: The CoffeeScript of TypeScript
    Coffeescript[1] was a flavour of JS syntax meant to look similar to Ruby syntax. You just compiled it back to JS. It was nice for working on Rails projects since it made everything feel more “cohesive”. I assume this project is here for older Coffeescript[1] projects who want to start using typescript, and need access to interfaces/types that were present in old CS files. [1] https://coffeescript.org/. - Source: Hacker News / over 2 years ago
View more

Transcrypt mentions (5)

  • PyScript
    This is a laudable effort, but I'm not a fan of shipping the entire interpreter. I looked around a few weeks ago and found https://transcrypt.org, which compiles your Python script to JS, so size is minimal. It's great for shipping small, internal tools/apps, I love how maintainable they are by all the Python devs, plus they're very fast to load and execute. - Source: Hacker News / almost 3 years ago
  • PySketch: Python Playground for HTML5
    How is the Python being run by the browser? Several impressive projects bring Python to the browser, such as Brython, Transcrypt, Skulpt, Pyodide. PySketch uses Brython that compiles Python to JavaScript in the browser. You can take a look at this article about technologies and comparisons if you want to learn more. - Source: dev.to / over 3 years ago
  • How to actually use python code in browser or application?
    I have a Python program that takes user input from the console and shows some results on the console, and I want the user to be able to type stuff into it instead of pre-recorded runs. How do I do that? I'm not really sure. You could have a copy of Python running on the server and have the front-end communicating with it, but you'd have to be sure it's secured -- there are a lot of dangerous Python commands... Source: over 3 years ago
  • Use of python for software development
    For web apps: in my experience, there are tools that convert Python into JavaScript or try to make Python run inside a web browser like Brython and Transcrypt. These have been VERY awkward or painfully slow, so I would strongly discourage their use in practical web development. Source: almost 4 years ago
  • Python and the Browser - Revisited
    A while back, I posted about my initial foray into using Python to develop front-end web applications with React by using the Transcrypt transpiler. Python in the Browser Part of the initial learning process I went through was doing the official React tutorial, but using Python for the code instead of JavaScript. When I did that, I adhered to the structure of the application that was used in the tutorial... - Source: dev.to / over 4 years ago

What are some alternatives?

When comparing CoffeeScript and Transcrypt, you can also consider the following products

JavaScript - Lightweight, interpreted, object-oriented language with first-class functions

Brython - Brython's goal is to replace Javascript with Python, as the scripting language for web browsers.

Octoparse - Octoparse provides easy web scraping for anyone. Our advanced web crawler, allows users to turn web pages into structured spreadsheets within clicks.

Skulpt - Skulpt is an entirely in-browser implementation of Python.

Diggernaut - Web scraping is just became easy. Extract any website content and turn it into datasets. No programming skills required.

Pyjs - pyjs is a Rich Internet Application (RIA) Development Platform for both Web and Desktop.