JavaScript is well-known for its front end web development and building dynamic web pages. It is also used for web applications, desktop applications, and artificial intelligence. When JavaScript was developed, it was introduced as a complementary scripting language such as Visual Basic to C++ in families of Microsoft. As time grews, JavaScript became heavy & complex and was unable to fulfil the requirement of server-side technology. Hence, to overcome these challenges a new programming language was introduced i.e. TypeScript.
What is Typescript?
TypeScript is a modern-age programming language created by Microsoft. TypeScript behaves similarly to JavaScript because it is a superset of JavaScript. You can find all the functionalities of JavaScript in TypeScript. It can be run on any browser which supports ECMScript 3. TypeScript compiles into JavaScript and we can use it in our browser. You can easily convert JavaScript files into TypeScript by simply changing the file extension from .js to .ts.
Advantages of TypeScript
- Object-Oriented Language:
TypeScript supports all the four main principles of object-oriented programming i.e. polymorphism, abstraction, inheritance, and encapsulation. It can implement all four features with clean and small syntax, and we can write code for both the server-side as well as client-side.
- Supports JavaScript Libraries:
Writing code in TypeScript allows the developer to manage complex projects while staying more productive. This is all done by the libraries it supports. TypeScript allows the developers to use all of the JavaScript libraries and elements easily.
- Early Spotted Bugs
A study found that TypeScript detects 12% of common bugs at the compilation time. This number really saves developers time and allows them to correct mistakes rather than catch common bugs. Compiling code through a compiler can decrease the volume of testing activities.
- Cross-Platform and Cross-Browser Compatibility
When an application is designed to work on Android and an iPhone it has multi-platform compatibility. Similarly, in websites, when a website is designed to work on various browsers, it’s called cross-browser compatibility. You can run TypeScript on every device, browser, and platform where you can work with JavaScript as well. This makes it easily available across devices. TypeScript offers developers the ability to convert the whole app at once by simply adding a configuration file called tsconfig.json to the root directory.
- Working with Data is Much Easier
There are a lot of benefits of using TypeScript, but the major benefit is that it works flawlessly with big data, whereas working with big data is a little complex in JavaScript. TypeScript code is more dependable and easier to refactor as compared to JavaScript. This makes it easier for developers to avoid rewrites and errors.
Reasons Why You Should Use TypeScript Over JavaScript
- TypeScript is More Reliable
In comparison with JavaScript code, TypeScript code is more reliable and easy to edit. This allows developers to solve errors and do rewrites much easier. TypeScript invalidates most of the common errors that can sneak into JavaScript code, and it can create a quick suggestion loop to fix all the common errors when writing a new code.
- Real-Time Type Checking
While working with an object in JavaScript, you can access every property of that object even if it is undefined. As you can imagine, this can lead to bugs that are difficult to tackle. But in TypeScript, your IDE will warn you in real-time that you are trying to access an undefined property that doesn’t exist.
- Increased Team Performance
This is one of the great things about TypeScript. It allows developers to work on their job without relying on the other team members too much.
- Better Auto-Complete
TypeScript provides a complete type system. It gives you better code auto-completion on your whole project and it works more efficiently. With TypeScript autocomplete, you don’t need to check documentation again and again because of the code hints.
- Better Developer Experience
While writing a JavaScript code every programmer has to go through multiple files to find out where the values are coming from. These things reduce the productivity of the developers. With TypeScript, these problems are gone and the main advantage is that you know not only the name of the variable, but also what kind of values it stores.
So, let’s compare TypeScript and JavaScript
| Parameters | JavaScript | TypeScript |
| Data binding | No concept is available in JavaScript. | It uses concepts like interfaces to describe data being used. |
| Prototyping | Does not support prototyping. | It has a feature of prototyping. |
| Ecosystem | In JavaScript, you can code with any kind of build step. | TypeScript comes up with an intuitive ecosystem. |
| Annotation | Doesn’t need any annotation. | Annotations are needed in TypeScript for best output. |
| Learning curve | JavaScript is easy to learn. | It comes with a steep learning curve. |
| Code compilation | You don’t need to compile code here. | Compile code is required. |
Conclusion
After considering all the features, TypeScript is a great tool for JavaScript developers. TypeScript is popular and trusted by the biggest players in the industry, and not as difficult as many believe. JavaScript and TypeScript are still growing and they are not competing with each other. However, they just complement each other. It allows you to work on larger projects easily and provides a better code-writing toolkit that can surely improve your programming skills. We hope this blog will be useful in your TypeScript journey. If you have any queries, feel free to reach us.
