In between TypeScript and JavaScript
TypeScript is an open-source language supported by Microsoft, which builds on top of JavaScript by adding optional static typing. Types provide a way to structure and validate your code before executing it. That’s extremely helpful in large-scale applications.
Here I briefly explain introduction about TypeScript & JavaScript and some differences in between of them.😃
JavaScript
JavaScript is one of the most popular core technologies of the web. From the beginning, it has been an integral part of web applications making web pages interactive and dynamic. It is a high-level language, with JIT (Just-in-Time) compiler and dynamic typing. For long, JS was a client-side implementation, but some newer JS engines also have server-side implementations. The syntax of JS is very similar to Java, and so are the standard libraries. As a starting point, JS is the best scripting language to learn.
JavaScript was developed by Netscape in collaboration with Sun Microsystems.
Some unique features of JavaScript are –
- Flexible, dynamic and cross-platform
- used for both client-side and server-side
- Lightweight interpreted
- Supported by all browsers
- Weakly typed
- JIT compilation
TypeScript
TypeScript is no different from JavaScript in its purpose but is used for developing large applications. TypeScript trans compiles (source to source compilation) to JavaScript. It follows an object-oriented programming language structure and supports its features like classes, interfaces, namespaces, and inheritance. Static typing is possible in TypeScript through type annotations (numbers, string and boolean). For example,
class Student {
private name: string;
}As we see above, TypeScript is strongly typed. This makes it better to debug (during compile time itself) which is a more efficient way to code for large projects. TypeScript program typically consists of modules, functions, variables, comments, expressions, and statements — just like any other full-fledged programming language.
Some prominent features of TypeScript are given below 👇
- Easy to maintain and enhances project productivity
- Static typing and annotations are possible
- Supports object-oriented features like interface, inheritance, and classes
- Easy to debug and early detection of errors
- Supports ES6 (ECMAScript) that offers easier syntax to handle objects and inheritance features
- The good full-fledged IDE support
Why TypeScript is developed while having JavaScript? 🤔
When JavaScript was developed then JavaScript development team introduced JavaScript as a client-side programming language. But when people was using JavaScript then developer get to know that JavaScript can be used as a server-side programming language also. But When JavaScript was growing then the code of JavaScript became complex and heavy. Because of this, JavaScript was even not able to full fill the requirement of Object-oriented programming language. This prevents JavaScript from succeeding at the enterprise level as a server-side technology. Then TypeScript was developed by the development team to bridge this gap.
Does that make TypeScript better than JavaScript?
Before further comparison of TypeScript and JavaScript, another important question needs to be addressed! Since TypeScript is a superset of JavaScript, should we always use Typescript? Does being a superset makes TypeScript suitable for all types of projects?
No.
TypeScript is no way to replace or make JavaScript obsolete. JavaScript is still the most favorite client-side scripting language. For smaller projects, using TypeScript could be an overhead because it takes time to trans compile the code into JavaScript, which is an extra step.
JavaScript is directly run on the browser, so for small code chunks, it’s easier to refresh and debug the code. In the case of TypeScript, we need a proper IDE and set up to run the code.
Difference between TypeScript and JavaScript:
- TypesScript is known as Object oriented programming language whereas JavaScript is a scripting language.
- TypeScript has a feature known as Static typing but JavaScript does not have this feature.
- TypeScript gives support for modules whereas JavaScript does not support modules.
- TypeScript has Interface but JavaScript does not have Interface.
Conclusion
As we have already determined, JavaScript is most suited when your team is new and is working on small web projects. If you have a team with good expertise and knowledge and want them to handle a complex project, going for TypeScript is a perfect choice. That said, if you are looking for a learning curve and job opportunities, definitely TypeScript has an edge over JavaScript. TypeScript developers are paid an average salary of $148,000 per year whereas JS developers are typically paid around $110,000 per year. If you learn TypeScript, you can work on both JS as well as TypeScript projects.
