What is TypeScript ?

What is TypeScript ?

Most of us may have heard that TypeScript is a "flavour" or "variant" of JavaScript.

  • TypeScript is an open-source programming language that is a superset of JavaScript, meaning it adds additional features and functionality to the language.

  • It includes optional static typing, classes, interfaces, and other features that help developers write more maintainable and error-free code.

  • TypeScript adds additional syntax to JavaScript to support a tighter integration with your editor and hence make error checking easier.

TypeScript: A typed Superset of JS

  • This means that TypeScript adds rules about how different kinds of values can be used. Eventually, TypeScript code gets converted to JavaScript, which runs anywhere JavaScript runs.

  • TypeScript understands JavaScript and uses type inference to give you great tooling without additional code.

Wasn't JavaScript enough...?

  • JavaScript has its own oddities & surprises.

  • JavaScript is dynamically typed. In other words, until a variable is instantiated at runtime, JavaScript cannot know what type it is.

  • But in some scenarios, this may be too late. And if a variable is falsely assumed to be a certain type, this can cause significant bugs and accordingly, TypeScript adds support for the loosely typed JavaScript.

Type safety with TypeScript

  • As the name suggests TypeScript is all about type safety or you can say TypeScript is a Static Type Checker.

  • Detecting errors in code without running it is referred to as static checking.

  • TypeScript checks a program for errors before execution and does so based on the kinds of values, it’s a static type checker.

Why do we need TypeScript?

  • We need TypeScript because it can catch errors at compile-time instead of runtime, making it easier to find and fix bugs.

  • It also improves code readability and maintainability by making it more self-documenting, and it provides better tooling and editor support for large-scale projects.

  • Additionally, because TypeScript is a superset of JavaScript, it can be easily integrated into existing JavaScript projects.

Thanks for Reading!

Hope you enjoyed reading this blog and found it useful...