CoffeeScript vs. JavaScript vs. MoonScript vs. Notepad++ 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.

MoonScript is a dynamic scripting language that compiles into Lua. It gives you the power of one of the fastest scripting languages combined with a rich set of features. MoonScript can either be compiled into Lua and run at a later time, or it can be dynamically compiled and run using the moonloader. Because it compiles right into Lua code, it is completely compatible with alternative Lua implementations like LuaJIT, and it is also compatible with all existing Lua code and libraries. The command line tools also let you run MoonScript directly from the command line, like any first-class scripting language. MoonScript provides a clean syntax using significant whitespace that avoids all the keyword noise typically seen in a Lua script. It also adds table comprehensions, implicit return on functions, classes, inheritance, scope management statements import & export, and a convenient object creation statement called with.