Celebrating the Golden Days of TypeScript on Its 10th Anniversary

Quick Rundown: Ten years ago, TypeScript was just a glimmer in Microsoft’s eye. Today, it’s a cornerstone of modern JavaScript development. From its humble beginnings to current dominance, TypeScript has revolutionized the way we write and maintain complex applications. Read on as we celebrate its decade of growth, explore its enduring impact, and delve into the exciting future of this powerful language.

A very happy 10th anniversary, TypeScript!

On October 1, 2012, TypeScript was initially made available to the public, making this anniversary particularly notable.

Recently, TypeScript usage has become a huge topic of discussion at JavaScript lectures and conferences. According to a recent Stackoverflow development survey, TypeScript is the fourth most loved programming language among developers globally.

Even though it is just 10 years old, the language already holds a solid position in web development tech stacks, including several well-known apps and organizations like Medium, Airbnb, and Slack. To put it another way, there are many reasons to learn TypeScript and to work with the language in more detail; this will also help you to know whether the TypeScript hype is legitimate or not.

Moreover, TypeScript, as the evolved version of JavaScript, is increasingly becoming the most popular language for web application development, especially for large-size apps.

Additionally, the time and money savings are so great that some organizations are even converting JavaScript projects to TypeScript's current version.

Umm, but what's the big deal about TypeScript?

Ok, ok! Let's slow down a little bit and not worry at all. This article will look closely at TypeScript, its history, and its present scenario.

So, let's begin!

The Early Golden Days

Let's first talk about some TypeScript history.

There was a lot of suspicion when TypeScript first appeared, which was understandable. A team attempting to introduce static types of JavaScript may have come off as an evil plan or practical joke to certain JavaScript users.

However, the most important question was - Was this idea of introducing static types of JavaScript worthy?

A big YES! It led to TypeScript, which provided users with rich editing capabilities like navigation, refactoring, type checking, and error detection before you save your file. With JavaScript codebases, organizations worldwide were facing enormous difficulties. Yet it was sure that JavaScript development would also be used everywhere, so bringing a different version of JavaScript was necessary.

So, who doesn't want strong tools to assist in writing these JavaScript codes? As a result, there was an overall vision for TypeScript throughout the organization.

When thinking of what is TypeScript, fortunately, the vision struck a chord with others. Early on, a tiny but diligent and eager community was willing to try new things, ride out the experience, and create something that hadn't even reached version 1.0.

In turn, writers and developers familiarized themselves with this vision and wrote books and tutorials about TypeScript, how to learn TypeScript, TypeScript examples, TypeScript updates, etc. These authors also stated about new libraries that gambled on TypeScript, and the new community members volunteered on StackOverflow and issue trackers. The TypeScript community flourished because of these preserving, hardworking and expert dedicated developers.

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However, one more problem was lying in front of them: convincing the JavaScript developers about the importance of static types in a dynamic language. Like TypeScript vs JavaScript, types vs no types have also been controversial, with a history in programming that dates back at least half a century.

The developers were eager to produce wonderful JavaScript tools through types.

Could it be done, though?

Let's find out!

Enduring the Challenges of Time

TypeScript setup calls for a very different strategy for development than we are accustomed to, along with perseverance, outreach, and empathy. It was necessary for every TypeScript version to be free, open-source, and developed entirely transparently. The TypeScript install had to feel like JavaScript, co-evolve with JavaScript, and effortlessly work with existing JavaScript.

Basically, what is TypeScript used for? The goal of TypeScript was never to create a unique, prescriptive language. Instead, TypeScript needed to be descriptive, developing the type system around JavaScript ecosystem conventions and patterns allowing developers to meet people where they were. The project's design objectives complemented this approach.

Moreover, how successfully TypeScript's design objectives have endured is a surprise.

You may also check out the official article containing design objectives to know more about them.

These things point to TypeScript being a type-checker for JavaScript, adding only the syntax required for type-checking.

In order to avoid adding significant runtime syntax and behaviors, the developers mainly concentrated on the type system. 10 years later, this may seem obvious. Still, programming languages frequently attempt to distinguish themselves based on the appearance of their executable code. In addition, many typed languages also use the types to guide their runtime behavior.

However, some of these approaches proved ineffective when attempting to expand upon and interact with JavaScript. Untyped JavaScript needed to function identically when put into TypeScript files and for TypeScript to JavaScript conversion to be as simple as removing types.

TypeScript developers had to make a few early mistakes before realizing this, but it was a great lesson, and the team managed to avoid runtime syntax for most of the past ten years.

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The fact that TypeScript hasn't sought to be every tool in the toolbox is another successful principle. One of the non-objectives of TypeScript usage is to provide a complete build pipeline. Make the system flexible so that third-party tools can utilize the compiler for more intricate development processes.

Different TypeScript versions have frequently received requests to act as a linear, bundler, optimizer/minified, build orchestrator, and many more. Even though TypeScript already performs much as a type-checker, language provider, and compiler, the lines aren't always well drawn. It always has been crucial that TypeScript maintain its scope and flexibility to meet various needs and to learn TypeScript in the JavScript ecosystem, where best practices have evolved.

Most Recent Advancements

Microsoft released TypeScript 4.7, the most recent TypeScript version, on April 8, 2022. As a TypeScript-using web development company, we thought it would be a good idea to let you know about the release of TypeScript 4.7, so you can get your hands on it and enjoy the benefits.

Microsoft delivers several code improvements, strongly typed JavaScript, TypeScript 4.7 with ECMAScript module (ESM) support for Node.js development solutions , and other new programming languages.

The release candidate for TypeScript 4.7 comprises various modern characteristics related to ECMAScript module support in Node. The main characteristics of TypeScript 4.7 include instantiation expressions, improvements, and control flow analysis for defining features.

To get more in-depth knowledge on the subject, understand the features more thoroughly, to learn the TypeScript installation of this version, and many more aspects, you can also check out our article on the release of TypeScript 4.7.

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Let's Talk About the Present Scenario of TypeScript

Today millions of developers opt for TypeScript usage, as it is becoming immensely popular.

According to different surveys and language rankings like GitHub's Octoverse Report, TypeScript has routinely been within the top 10 most popular and widely used languages.

Context is crucial; TypeScript and JavaScript are inherently interconnected, and every TypeScript programmer is also a JavaScript programmer. Fortunately, even when asking JavaScript developers if they utilize and enjoy TypeScript, as stated in the State of JS Survey, the response is a hearty 'YES'!

The core team had no idea that TypeScript would be as successful as it is today, let alone where they thought it would be in 10 years. The core team has put a lot of effort into TypeScript, but we should also acknowledge that community has been the key to its success. The community covers all internal and external TypeScript users, library authors, regular developers, contributors to Definitely Typed, community leaders, and specialists who volunteered their time to help others and clear the way for newbies to learn TypeScript by answering their queries.

Future of TypeScript

So, what does TypeScript's future fold?

Allow us to ask you all - Did you anticipate that Turbo Pascal, Delphi, and C# would gain such popularity? No one could!

Therefore, TypeScript has a promising future too!

Today, TypeScript is developed by the same person who created Delphi, Turbo Pascal, and C#. Consequently, we can be sure that TypeScript usage will soar in popularity in the future as well.

Good news, isn't it?

Summing up!Well, now you must be a little familiar with the background of TypeScript, its history, the TypeScript update, the latest version of TypeScript, what is TypeScript used for, etc., etc.In a nutshell, TypeScript is a language that extends JavaScript and includes type syntax. Here, types specify the values you use and the methods you call. In order to prevent errors like missing arguments, typos, and null and undefined functionality, TypeScript retrieves this information.Thus, TypeScript usage offers JavaScript developers a lot of potential.Moreover, when hiring the best JavaScript developers, you can always opt for a reputable web application development company like Radixweb. The experts here are well versed with TypeScript and help in developing dynamic, lightweight web and mobile applications.Ummm, Why Radixweb, Though?JavaScript professionals at Radixweb are also well-versed in TypeScript. They have an in-depth knowledge of these incredibly scalable, high-level, and dependable languages. Our experts thereby utilize them to create an engaging frontend and effective backend for your application.Contact us to find out more about these services.