TypeScript is an open-source programming language developed by Microsoft. With adoption from many popular libraries and frameworks, TypeScript has secured its own place alongside ES6 as one of the preferred JavaScript flavors. There are strong opinions on why (and why not) to use it. This is an opinion piece on some specific scenarios where TypeScript can be useful.
Table of Contents
- Navigating large codebases
- Refactoring the code
- Finding bugs and code quality
- Useful language features and patterns
Navigating large codebases
Developers read a lot of code every day. It becomes a challenge when a project is large and complex, which most enterprise projects are. With the help of type information, a source editor can provide useful information that makes understanding the relationships between the parts of code easier.
Refactoring the code
Refactoring is a routine that pays-off the technical debt and avoids clutter. Thanks to the static types offered by TypeScript, a developer can reliably make changes across the codebase. This is a lifesaver on large projects.
Finding bugs and code quality
Finding bugs becomes faster with compiler supported type checks. This helps in failing fast and failing at the compile-time. As a bonus, source editors provide more intelligent autocompletion that improves the quality of code.
Useful language features and patterns
With TypeScript, developers can use the latest JavaScript features that are yet to be supported by the platform. It all gets built to compatible code by the TypeScript compiler.