WAT? A Funny Look at Ruby and JavaScript Oddities

The Urban Dictionary definition of "wat" is "the only proper response to something that makes absolutely no sense". The concept of wat is covered a little more completely on its page in Know Your Meme.

"Wat" is also the title of a funny demo of Ruby and JavaScript oddities presented by Gary Bernhardt at CodeMash 2012, a rather unlikely tech conference — it takes place in Sandusky, Ohio, in Ohio’s largest indoor waterpark. (If you just said "wat" right now, you’ve used the word correctly.)

In the video, you see this classic wat bit about undefined variables and assignment in Ruby:

You’ll also marvel at the way JavaScript treats (array + array) vs. (array + object) vs. (object + array) vs. (object + object):

Watch the video, and wait for that final slide, which is pure, hilarious wat!

This article also appears in the Shopify Technology Blog.