TypeScript vs JavaScript
TypeScript is an enhanced version of JavaScript with some extra features added to it.TypeScript is an open source programming language for developing large level application.TypeScript was developed by tech giants-Microsoft in 2012.The actual reason behind TypeScript development was to handle large scale applications.As per the study Typescript and JavaScript are the second and third most important programming language respectively that developers want to work with.Do you know why?Actually JavaScript is considered the primary scripting language for apps and web pages.But the actual question now is was JavaScript developed for handling large and complex web apps? I guess the answer is a big NO!
Difference Between TypeScript and JavaScript
While comparing two programming languages — TypeScript and JavaScript, we have to consider many factors, which are as below:
1) Learning Curve
TypeScript is a superset of JavaScript. To write a TypeScript code, you should have a basic understanding and knowledge of JavaScript. Besides, you should be clear with the OOPS concept as well.
On the other hand, JavaScript is a popular and easy-to-learn scripting language. Many developers use JavaScript with CSS and HTML to create web applications. However, HTML is tough as it contains event handling, web behavior, animations, and scripting.
2) Developers Community
TypeScript gained its popularity in a short time and was implemented by many enterprises. You will find many tutorials and guides available on the Internet to learn TypeScript. However, it has a very active and supportive community.
On the flip side, JavaScript doesn’t have a large community as compared to TypeScript. JavaScript offers many libraries, frameworks, and code practices. Therefore, it’s advisable to know your web development team structure that best suits your business needs for overall team performance.
3) Performance
As we know, TypeScript was created to overcome the challenges of JavaScript for large-level complex applications. Hence, TypeScript saves development time and allows developers to become more efficient.
The only difference between TypeScript and JavaScript is that TypeScript code is compiled into JavaScript before execution.
4) Syntax
TypeScript offers variable declaration, functional paradigm, and type system, which JavaScript doesn’t offer. It’s similar to JScript and .Net in terms of syntax, with support for ECMAScript 2015 Standard features including modules, an arrow function syntax, and classes.
JavaScript follows the ECMAScript definition as well. However, it’s not a typed language like TypeScript. It uses many structured programming terminologies from C, like if statements, switch statements, do-while loops, and many more. It offers event-driven style, functional and imperative programming.
5) Tools and Frameworks
Since Microsoft backs TypeScript, it has many leading frameworks and editors. Through tight integration with editors, it provides error handling during compilation to avoid errors at runtime.
On the flip side, there are many JavaScript frameworks available in the market for web development project requirements. It’s a huge ecosystem that’s quite popular among programmers. You can quickly find developers who specialize in ReactJS, VueJS, Angular, and other frameworks.
6) Code
For TypeScript:
class Person
{
private name: string;
constructor (private name: string)
{
this.name = name;
}
name()
{
return “name is “ + this.name;
}
}
For JavaScript:
var Person = (function()
{
function Person(personName)
{
this.name = personName;
}
Person.prototype.name= function()
{
return “My name is “ + this.name;
}
return Person;
})();
How does TypeScript Differ from JavaScript?
We know that TypeScript offers more features than JavaScript. In a nutshell, TypeScript is an object-oriented programming language, whereas JavaScript is a scripting language. Thus, TypeScript offers interfaces and modules through ES6 features; on the other hand, JavaScript doesn’t offer such features.
Actually, some developers may get confused between object-oriented and functional programming languages. However, you can distinguish between functional programming vs object-oriented programming language here and know how it differs from each other.
Why Migrate Your Project to TypeScript?
If you have a large and complex codebase, there are higher chances of errors occurring. However, that would be good if some errors were resolved during the compilation time. This is when you can use TypeScript to reduce errors during compile time. The best part is that the complete Java codebase may be reused as-is.
When to Choose: Difference Between JavaScript and TypeScript
Should I learn JavaScript or TypeScript?
Well, if you are aware of JavaScript, then it’s easy for you to understand TypeScript. They both languages share the same syntax and run-time behavior.
Being the most popular language, JavaScript offers many resources and a massive developers community. Since both languages are executed in the same way in many cases, TypeScript developers can also benefit from those resources.
Benefits of TypeScript Over JavaScript
- TypeScript supports static typing. This means that static typing allows type accuracy to be checked at build time.
- At the time of development, TypeScript identifies the compilation bugs. As a result, the scope of evaluating errors at runtime is very less. JavaScript, on the other hand, is an interpreted language.
- TypeScript is just JS with some extra functionality, namely ES6 features. The TS compiler can compile .ts files into ECMAScript, albeit it may not be kept in your chosen web browser.
Will TypeScript Replace JavaScript?
Well, the shortest answer to the above question is NO!
While talking about TypeScript, it is a completely different language except that it inherits the basic nature of JavaScript. Therefore, JavaScript can’t or will not be replaced ever.
JavaScript is one of the popular and fundamental technologies in the software development industry, used by a plethora of developers for both client-side and server-side.
TypeScript, on the other hand, does not execute in web browsers directly. It trans compiles to JavaScript. JavaScript is easier to debug and compile as it executes directly in the web browser. However, TypeScript is not developed for all types of projects. Therefore, both programming languages have their pros and cons along with a set of characteristics. And to walk along with enterprise web development trends, you have to adapt a new technology or framework for better business processes and customer experience.
Head-to-Head Comparison: TypeScript vs JavaScript
TypeScript and JavaScript share many similarities in developing interactive web pages. While providing the head-to-head comparison of TypeScript vs JavaScript, we can say that JavaScript is a lightweight interpreted and dynamic language which is used for augmenting HTML web pages. On the other hand, TypeScript is an enhanced version of JavaScript. This means TypeScript is a combination of JavaScript and some other traits.
- TypeScript is an object-oriented programming language developed by Microsoft Corporation, whereas JavaScript is the programming language for the web.
- TypeScript is an open-source language to build large-scale web apps, whereas JavaScript is a server-side programming language that helps to develop interactive web pages.
On the other hand, TypeScript is an enhanced version of JavaScript. This means TypeScript is a combination of JavaScript and some other traits.
Let’s understand the vital differences in the below comparison table on TypeScript vs JavaScript.
Conclusion
In the end, after going through all the insights we have curated in this article, we can say that both languages have pros and cons.
TypeScript is suitable for developers who want to create readable code that is neat and clean. Well, we are not mentioning what TypeScript offers are including various live-bugs checking, and static typing.
Although JavaScript is not a comprehensive programming language, it can be used with HTML to improve the quality of web pages. Moreover, you will find many experienced developers who are proficient in JavaScript coding.
However, TypeScript, like JavaScript, is not supported by all web browsers. So, if you are in a dilemma of choosing between TypeScript vs JavaScript, you can refer to the above article