As someone who hated ActionScript 3, I vehemently disagree. AS3 felt like some Java guys trying to force a Java mindset on a language that didn't really suit it.
And I say that as a Java guy myself. TS is much more dynamic and less abrasive, IMO.
Funny, I feel the same way about TS :)
To be fair tho, you’re right. Flex was a very Java centric endeavor, from its compiler to the first big frameworks (Caignorm?) all the way to its target audience, which were enterprise companies that wanted to do their “thing” on the web. There was a massive developer migration from the Java/enterprise world to the AS3 ecosystem that had a visible impact.
Also to be fair, if you look at Angular now with TS it feels even more Java’ish than ever.
TS is great, is specially good for people coming from different languages in that it gives them a more familiar environment but the downside is that they have to make a lower effort to break away from old patterns and truly understand the new platform they’re working on.
Whenever I feel in the mood to troll people, I tell them that TS is just a worse AS3. AS3 has types, classes... it even had XML literals! Eat that, JSX.
To be more precise, TS is a worse ES4. AS was a partially conforming implementation of ES4 drafts that most are aware of. But Microsoft had its own thing along these lines - JScript.NET (in fact, it still ships as part of the .NET Framework, even though it's deprecated).
And I say that as a Java guy myself. TS is much more dynamic and less abrasive, IMO.