Part of the Software development glossary:

CoffeeScript is a programming language that predictably transcompiles to JavaScript. Programs can be written with less code and in more human-readable terms, without sacrificing runtime performance, compared with JavaScript.

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CoffeeScript was conceived by Jeremy Ashkenas in 2009.  According to Ashkenas, the language offers several advantages over JavaScript, including simpler and more consistent syntax, faster runtime in some situations, and features to streamline the code-writing process. In order to write in CoffeeScript, users must know JavaScript, but the source code contains explanations to streamline the learning curve. CoffeeScript operates seamlessly with Javascript projects.

CoffeeScript evolved from bits of Ruby and Python, but Ashkenas calls it mainly "homebrewed." On December 24, 2010, Ashkenas announced the release of CoffeeScript 1.0.0, the first stable version. In the future, Ashkenas would like to "shrink down and polish" the compiler and provide compatibility with popular browsers.

This was last updated in September 2012
Contributor(s): Stan Gibilisco
Posted by: Margaret Rouse

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