> You almost have to reach for some utility library or build your own ad-hoc one just to use the language.
Sure. But are hundreds of dependencies really required for this?
In Java you would use tools like Guava or Spring for general quality of life improvements, and there would be a few deps for them (under a dozen iirc).
The solution is for the “top tier” libraries and frameworks in the JS world to be designed with minimal dependencies. And where they do have a need for a dependency, they undertake serious consideration of the best option that minimises dependency hell.
And those "top tier" libraries do exist for some stuff- especially if we're talking about the anemic standard library. The famous lodash library doesn't have any (non-lodash-umbrella) dependencies AFAIK.
Sure. But are hundreds of dependencies really required for this?
In Java you would use tools like Guava or Spring for general quality of life improvements, and there would be a few deps for them (under a dozen iirc).
The solution is for the “top tier” libraries and frameworks in the JS world to be designed with minimal dependencies. And where they do have a need for a dependency, they undertake serious consideration of the best option that minimises dependency hell.