CoffeeScript vs. JavaScript vs. Unlambda vs. neoCoder 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.

Unlambda is a programming language. Nothing remarkable there. The originality of Unlambda is that it stands as the unexpected intersection of two marginal families of languages. Functional programming languages, of which the canonical representative is Scheme (a Lisp dialect). This means that the basic object manipulated by the language (and indeed the only one as far as Unlambda is concerned) is the function. Rather, Unlambda uses a functional approach to programming: the only form of objects it manipulates are functions. Each function takes a function as an argument and returns a function. Apart from a binary “apply” operation, Unlambda provides several built-in functions (the most important ones being the K and S combinators). User-defined functions can be created, but not saved or named, because Unlambda does not have any variables.