I’m sure you’ve heard of CoffeeScript. Everyone is talking about it, it seems. It’s a beautiful language with a simple syntax that you use to write Javascript. CoffeeScript compiles to Javascript. Here is why I think you should be using it:

Readability

CoffeeScript is designed to be beautiful and readable. There is no unnecessary fluff. Less syntax boilerplate, fewer mistakes. Compare:

// regular javascript
var author = "William Shakespeare";
// coffeescript
author = "William Shakespeare"

Indentation is also important in CoffeeScript - just like in Python. This makes closures and blocks easier to spot.

Valid Code

There are many different coding styles when it comes to writing Javascript. The good thing about CoffeeScript is that the Javascript it generates is valid - it passes Javascript Lint. And if your code isn’t valid CoffeeScript, it won’t compile. It’s a win-win. This is perhaps my favorite feature.

Easy class inheritance

This is just great. It reminds me of Python and Ruby:

class Animal
    constructor: (@name) ->

    move: (meters) ->
        alert @name + " moved #{meters}m."

class Dog extends Animal
    move: ->
        alert "Whoof..."
        super 5

Compiles to this in Javascript:

var Animal, Dog;
var __hasProp = Object.prototype.hasOwnProperty, __extends = function(child, parent) {
    for (var key in parent) {
        if (__hasProp.call(parent, key)) child[key] = parent[key];
    }
    function ctor() { this.constructor = child; }
    ctor.prototype = parent.prototype;
    child.prototype = new ctor;
    child.__super__ = parent.prototype;
    return child;
};
Animal = (function() {
    function Animal(name) {
        this.name = name;
    }
    Animal.prototype.move = function(meters) {
        return alert(this.name + (" moved " + meters + "m."));
    };
    return Animal;
})();
Dog = (function() {
    function Dog() {
        Dog.__super__.constructor.apply(this, arguments);
    }
    __extends(Dog, Animal);
    Dog.prototype.move = function() {
        alert("Whoof...");
        return
        Dog.__super__.move.call(this, 5);
    };
    return Dog;
})();

Quite a difference, huh? Think how much time you’d need to understand each version and make any changes required. In my mind, this encourages better code organization and structure.

Node.js awesomeness

CoffeeScript comes with a Node.js utility, coffee. You can write your Node.js code in CoffeeScript and run it with coffee file.js. The utility wraps the CoffeeScript compiler and the node executable. This way, you can whip up a quick server in no time. Genius.

Easy debugging

With tools like Google Web Toolkit, your code compiles to minified javascript. Non-minified code is obviously easier (possible?) to read and debug.