list of things that don't do what they say they do

alternative.md

(also know as lies and/or alternative facts)

js

• setImmediate - doesn't set anything immediately, waits for a tick before executing
• setTimeout(fn, n) - never sets the timeout to exactly n
• Math.random() - computers cannot generate random numbers
• Promise - is a lie when rejected
• Array.reduce - accumulates, does not reduce (via @sbmadhav)
• const - isn't constant, can be mutated (via adamwknox)
• typeof NaN === 'number' 🙄 (via @delapouite)
• continue - stops execution of current block (via @vdanchenkov)

react

• setState - doesn't set, but enqueues a state change
• createElement - creates a description of the actual element
• instance::render() - doesn't actually render
• componentWillMount - component might not mount
• react (!) - doesn't react immediately, schedules changes instead

misc

• babel - speaks only one language (though understands many)
• rxjs - rx implies prescription, not subscription
• javascript - isn't a scripting language for java, or related to java in any way.
• isomorphic - is a word used to compare two different, but similar structures; not to say that one structure works in multiple places (via @gaearon)

How is babel a lie?

@josephcooney - kind of a stretch, but I'm sticking with it :) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tower_of_Babel

They all spoke the same language at the start...but I guess Genesis 11:9 makes it pretty clear.

That is why it was called Babel—because there the Lord confused the language of the whole world.

componentWillMount - component might not mount
In my english class I learned that the difference between "will" and "going to" is that when the former is used, something might not happen 😛

yarn upgrade [package@version] downgrades, does not upgrade if the specified version is older than the one installed

JavaScript getDate() Method that return the day of the month and not the actual date

Don't you think rx in rxjs comes from rx/tx that means receive/transmit, then the rx part make sense?

Responsive: JS uses it to mean dynamically resizeable rather that the usual meaning of UI performance

but reduce does, generally, reduce many values into a single value. that reduction might be through accumulation, but it's still many -> one.

Const isn't a lie. It's a constant reference. The binding doesn't change. The keyword isn't "immut", so expecting immutibility is false equivalence

createElement() does create element, which is the description of a react component instance. I guess they can rename it to createReactElement (as different from DOMElement).

NaN is rightly a number. It's Not a Not a Number!

this should be made a wiki somewhere so people can add stuff from other languages

this should be made a wiki somewhere so people can add stuff from other languages

Great idea.

lol lots of people want to fight in these comments. this is a fun list of things that can be pretty suprising