CoffeeScript vs. Dart vs. Elm vs. JavaScript Comparison Chart

Underneath that awkward Java-esque patina, JavaScript has always had a gorgeous heart. CoffeeScript is an attempt to expose the good parts of JavaScript in a simple way. The golden rule of CoffeeScript is: “It’s just JavaScript.” The code compiles one-to-one into the equivalent JS, and there is no interpretation at runtime. You can use any existing JavaScript library seamlessly from CoffeeScript (and vice-versa). The compiled output is readable, pretty printed, and tends to run as fast or faster than the equivalent handwritten JavaScript. Most modern JavaScript features that CoffeeScript supports can run natively in Node 7.6+, meaning that Node can run CoffeeScript’s output without any further processing required. This list may be incomplete, and excludes versions of Node that support newer features behind flags; please refer to node.green for full details. You can run the tests in your browser to see what your browser supports.

Elm uses type inference to detect corner cases and give friendly hints. NoRedInk switched to Elm about four years ago, and 300k+ lines later, they still have not had to scramble to fix a confusing runtime exception in production. The compiler guides you safely through your changes, ensuring confidence even through the most widereaching refactorings in unfamiliar codebases. Including your own, six months later. All Elm programs are written in the same pattern, eliminating doubt and lengthy discussions when deciding how to build new projects and making it easy to navigate old or foreign codebases. Elm has its own virtual DOM implementation, designed for simplicity and speed. All values are immutable in Elm, and the benchmarks show that this helps us generate particularly fast JavaScript code.