Reasons to Use Typescript for Your Next Project Over Javascript

  • By Himanshu Patel
  • 09-05-2024
  • Web Development
typescript development
Do you know that TypeScript is considered a better programming language than JavaScript? Yes, it's true. Wondering Why? We’ll discuss this in complete detail today. 
 
Here’s the short answer to your question:
 
TypeScript is preferred over JavaScript because of the former’s static typing, interfaces, enums, and high-level tooling support. These properties let you write better code with effective IDE support, leading to higher work productivity. TypeScript’s advanced interfaces and generics let you create more robust programs and catch coding errors before the program runs. 
 
By the end of this article, you will be able to understand:
 
  • Why is TypeScript chosen over JavaScript?
  • What impact has TypeScript had to the development community?
  • What are the major uses of TypeScript?
  • Reasons behind TypeScript’s rising popularity. 
 
This guide is useful for TypeScript development company and developers providing TypeScript development services. 

What is TypeScript, and How is it Related to JavaScript?

TypeScript is a programming language; it has everything JavaScript has to offer and some more. The relationship between these two languages is only limited to the extent of JavaScript's features and functionalities. 
 
For instance, let’s take these two code scripts:
 
 
You got it right. There’s no difference between the code scripts. However, understand this: TypeScript can extend JavaScript, and these extended instructions written in TypeScript intend to be more explicit about what sort of data is used in the codebase. 
 
For instances, here’s an extended version of the same code written above:
 
 
Here is the extra :string adds certainty to the fact that the name will only be a string. This is an annotation, which means with TypeScript, you give the system the opportunity to verify that the strings match with the instructions given. You will need such a thing when the number of variables in the code is hundreds, and it's not easy to keep track of everyone. 
 
This means you can now work on bigger projects than what JavaScript covers, which is why TypeScript’s tagline reads, “JavaScript that Scales.” 
 
With TypeScript, you can verify the written code upfront and verify its correctness. As a result, the constant need to authenticate how every change in the code affects the rest of the program simply vanishes. 
 
One of the reasons I think TypeScript should be preferred is the evolution of the websites and applications we build today. 10 to 20 years ago, using JavaScript for development was fine because the scale and size of the projects weren’t that big and its usage was limited to building the front-end of digital solutions. 
 
times have changed now. JavaScript is used almost everywhere, and the scale of solutions we build today is complex and difficult to understand. Hence, adding Types to the code significantly reduces complexity. 

TypeScript Syntax and its Examples

TypeScript syntax is similar to JavaScript; this much we have already established. The pivotal additions in TypeScript are the types, which can be declared for variables, functions, and objects. 
 
To clearly establish why you should use TypeScript, let me take you through the syntax examples:

1. TypeScript Variables

These variables are the foundation of a programming language, and in TypeScript, you can add explicit and implicit variables. Their utility depends on the function you want to run. 
 
Implicit variables

2. TypeScript Functions

With functions, you can type both arguments (passed and return), or you have the option to skip adding the return value, as it’s implicitly worked out most of the time. 
 
But for a return argument, you will always need to add it separately. Here’s an example:
 

3. TypeScript Objects

Objects form a fundamental part of the TypeScript codebase; hence, it is essential to type them correctly. You have two ways of adding Objects to the TypeScript code: Implicit and Explicit. In the implicit route, you use the properties defined on the object, and the other route, you use index types.
 
But, in my experience, using the implicit route is better as it provides more accuracy and better auto-completion. 
 
 
With this code, you can see that properties are available on the object and given data types. The other way to do this is to type every possible property (as shown in the code below), which is going to be time-consuming. 
 

4. TypeScript Features

  • TypeScript Type Guards

Type guards prevent you from doing something that the TypeScript variable doesn’t allow. Often, this leads to moments when you need to guard the statements and allow them to be performed with certainty. 
 
 
In addition to the function used to describe a value in the example above, other ways to use type guards are: 
  1. instanceof
  2. typeof
  3. type predicates

  • TypeScript Interfaces

Interfaces present another way to type objects and their values in TypeScript. However, instead of writing them inline, we can define them independently. This allows the interfaces to be reused in multiple places. 

  • Unions and Intersection

In the event of an extension of interfaces, unions and intersections are used to combine them and create a larger type. Here’s how they work:
 
Union: A type union can specify if a value is related to one or multiple types. And it also depends whether you want to use a type guard to define the value, the correct tuple, and handle all its possibilities. 
 
string[] | string | undefined - We have used this above to showcase a union denoted by |. Combining them with interfaces, you can run the following code script:
 
 
Intersections: Unions instruct what happens when we set the type of value. But intersections help you define an object’s type. Hence, we can use intersections to combine multiple types into one and here’s how to do it:
 

5. TypeScript Enums

Enums let us define a set of named constraints to use throughout the code to ensure consistency. This is how they work:
 
In this, we have defined enum as the type of argument within the function to limit the acceptance of values into a function. So, any other value, including the ones that match the enum, will be erroneous. 

6. TypeScript Generics

Generics are an advanced feature of TypeScript and are used to grant reusability to a function that otherwise may have a single purpose. Here’s an example of how we can use generics:
 
For a function tasked with fetching data from an API without using generics, the data fetched can be rendered unknown, making the use of TypeScript redundant. However, when using generics, you can convert a fetcher function to accept a generate and instruct TypeScript to validate the returned value from the fetch function. 
 
Here’s the code script to implement this:
 

Reasons why TypeScript is Better for your Next Project

In short, I’ll give all the reasons you must hire a trusted TypeScript development company for your next project. 

1. Less Chances of Project Failure: With TypeScript, you can ensure that no wrong type of argument of a function is passed on, thereby preventing project errors and failure early on. 

2. Self-Documentation Capabilities: Coding in TypeScript is self-explanatory, as the type definitions are sent straight in the project or to the library files.

3. TypeScript has Impressive IDE support: Developers spend a lot of time working with IDEs. Specifically, it can do the following:

  • Mouse Hover Support: Hover the mouse over the code to check what activity it will provide. 
  • Auto-Completion of Code: For static programming languages, code auto-completion is quicker and more reliable. 
  • Type Checking (Real-Time): With TypeScript, the IDE warns you whether it's possible to access a function that doesn’t exist in TypeScript. 
  • Easier Code Refactor: Refactoring TypeScript code in an IDE is easier than refactoring JavaScript code. A mistake in variable naming in JavaScript can cause refactoring failure. 
4. Type Inference: TypeScript is a statically typed language and for other similar languages, you may need to type in a lot of code. This is for describing all the variables, functions, function return types, etc. However, TypeScript has an Inference feature that can estimate a variable’s type tied to the value you have given. 
 
5. Detect Errors: TypeScript adds better syntax to JavaScript, which makes code compilation easier. The compiler uses the syntax to identify possible code errors before they happen, which eases your work. A study even proved that TypeScript can detect over 15% of JavaScript bugs.  
 
6. Object Orientation Capability: TypeScript supports object-oriented programming concepts, including;
 
  • Classes
  • Encapsulation
  • Inheritance
  • Abstraction
  • Interfaces
The OOP capability streamlines well-organized code creation while ensuring that it is scalable and maintainable. This is particularly helpful when the project is large and full of complexities. 
 
7. Better Knowledge Sharing: For a TypeScript app development services company, knowledge sharing among developers has a high impact on work productivity. With TypeScript, it's easier for the developers to share knowledge, as they can add comments in every line. 
 
You can use this feature to provide training, lessons, and experiences for future use. Moreover, this facilitates quick and easy collaboration among developers. 
 
8. Loved by Major Frameworks: Market’s leading frameworks like React, Vue, and Angular, among others, have built-in TypeScript. This means they support TypeScript by default.
 
That’s not all; TypeScript also works seamlessly on all sorts of browsers. TypeScript takes care of compiling the code to JavaScript and then on browsers. 

To Sum it up,

TypeScript is a statically typed object-oriented programming language, termed as a superset of JavaScript. This essentially means that TypeScript is better than JavaScript on various levels. Developers who want to be fast, efficient, and productive in their work often adopt TypeScript due to its several capabilities and syntaxical benefits. 
 
A developer-friendly programming language, TypeScript has several advantages, facilitating development of complex applications and web solutions. 
 
We are a top TypeScript development company, offering our services to businesses of all levels and industries. Our in-house TypeScript experts are here to guide you through consultation and explain its implementation.

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Author

Himanshu Patel

Himanshu is the CEO of MobMaxime and the Innovation Guy around here. With his experience and global market understanding, he steers the organizational culture towards proficiency and productivity. His dedication and strong will to create the best solutions for this clients comes from his superlative technical acumen and a deep-set understanding of the client's needs.

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