Am I correct in thinking that when some bit of software comes up on HN without any other information in the title about what it is, that it's generally assumed everyone knows what it is already?
To be fair, the tagline of the main page gives you a good explanation of what Deno is ("Next-generation JavaScript Runtime")(I did not know what Deno was either). I've seen worse homepage with no indication of what the product actually is with only vague marketing blurb and no easily searchable keywords.
What type of apps do you code for your day-job? (I program for fun and curiosity, so that is why I ask that lame question.)
Do you use node.js? Deno is brought in part by the Node.js creator, Ryan Dahl, who wanted to fix/improve a lot of things he didn't like in node.js.
They also have "Deno Deploy" (with a free tier) to run your code on different servers scattered throughout the globe: https://deno.com/deploy
One of the reasons I love the `deno` executable is you can use `import` statements in your code and then tell `deno` to merge everything into a single .js file. I would then take that and publish it to Cloudflare Workers. I know you can do this with node.js and a bunch of tools, but it is so much simpler with `deno`.
Not the person you asked but I'm in exactly the same boat: coding since decades and had never heard of Deno (but I have "of course" at least heard of node.js and React and Angular and ...), have been mainly coding C++ and OpenCL/CUDA.
Deno is one of those things that makes it to the front page regularly (I’ve seen it here at least once every two months since it’s release) but if you aren’t on here every day or only started frequenting here recently I could easily see it being missed
tbf you're not really behind; alternate js runtimes still aren't widely used. People are aware and keeping track of them, but to me they still feel more like up-and-comers than industry players. Don't have a source, just going by anecdotal feel.
More flexible security options for Deno programs
Secure your programs at runtime with --deny-* flags, which enable you to configure deny lists for domains, file paths, and other resources to which access should be restricted.
Expanded options for testing and benchmarking
New test result formatters, support for Node.js testing APIs, and more granular benchmarking.
Node.js compatibility improvements
Run npm package scripts that aren’t configured as binaries, use all node:os APIs with our latest polyfill, call native code add-ons with process.dlopen, and more.
Quality of life improvements
Small features and fixes like better error messages, language server improvements, and more forgiving WebSocket APIs."
The point of the Deno project is not being a replacement for Node. It's actually being a holistic dx to web dev. They provide the runtime, the hosting, and the full stack framework (Fresh).
deno is refreshing, but i don't like the fact that it is married with typescript and has built-in support for this and that library. should've been framework agnostic from the start and not marketed as this batteries-included thing.
also, this creates more fragmentation in the node/web community which i don't really see the need for. being compatible with node/npm just carries with it the warts and problems instead of getting rid of them.
Deno was explicitly designed not to be that, and probably never will be that (recent steps to make it a lot easier to replace Node for some use cases notwithstanding).
But it's OK if you aren't interested. It's totally normal for only a subset of readers to be interested in any particular thing that hits the front page.
Might be a matter of perception, but I believe Bun is advertising itself as a drop-in replacement whereas Deno is primarily focused on being a better runtime (native TypeScript, different security model wrt modules, comes with test runner, linter etc).
So while they're definitely competitors to an extent, the difference in approach should be taken into consideration when you're deciding which one to pick.
Deno is making it easier to move from Node to Deno in various ways lately, but it has its own philosophy (use web standards, don't adopt ideas/technologies from the past that turned out to suck, etc) so I don't think they are aiming to be able to replace Node for every use case with no changes to your code.
With TypeScript 5.0, though, it has become a lot easier to have a large monorepo full of TypeScript code that works with Node programs, Deno programs, and web apps / code that runs in the browser.
We still use Node a lot at work, but Deno is getting more use as it is generally a better experience. But that's not really a function of it getting "closer" to Node; for the things I care about, Deno is typically somewhat different to Node, but better.
(Haven't used Bun yet myself; it's still a bit too new for me, and not yet cross-platform.)
If the goal is to minimize differences compared to node, then bun is better. But personally I feel deno to be incredibly refreshing, a new take on what js development looks like. Bun doesn't have the same vision. Bun is also a lot less mature than deno, as mentioned by others.
But the differences shouldn't be overstated, any js dev will feel home using deno rather quickly.
