this post was submitted on 02 Apr 2024
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I was talking to my manager the other day, discussing the languages we are using at $dayjob. He kind of offhandedly said that he thinks TypeScript is a temporary fad and soon everything will go back to using JavaScript. He doesn't like that it's made by Microsoft either.

I'm not a frontend developer so I don't really know, but my general impression is that everything is moving more and more towards TypeScript, not away from it. But maybe I'm wrong?

Does anyone who actually works with TypeScript have any impression about this?

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[โ€“] ShaunaTheDead@fedia.io -3 points 7 months ago (5 children)

I don't really get the appeal of strongly typed languages. Can't you just use try/catch blocks, and/or use functional programming and return early if the data structure of whatever you're working with isn't what you expected?

I guess it can help older code easier to maintain because the expected data structure is right there, but you could also just include it in a comment above the function.

I personally find TS slows down initial production of a project and raises so many unnecessary errors.

Is there some huge benefit that I'm missing? Because I don't really get the appeal. I mean, I do on some level, but I don't really understand why so many people are absolutely obsessed with TS.

[โ€“] haggyg 3 points 7 months ago

Interesting argument. I have used both typescript and JavaScript, but I spend 99% of my time writing firmware in C, because of this I LOVE strongly typed languages, and I get kinda annoyed/paranoid when my variable COULD change type quietly so end up doing (perhaps too much) type checks etc.

I can say with surety I hate programming in both Typescript and JavaScript, but I definitely hate Typescript less because of the typing.

Having said that, I don't really like the compiled javascript that comes out of the typescript compiler, because it puts some distance between the user and the code and I am all for clarity, especially when people have to go out of their way to not run this code.

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