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by ravenstine 1165 days ago
You're not the only one. I don't hate Typescript, but I don't think it's necessarily worth using everywhere. I like using it for libraries that I might share or reuse, that contain some complex logic, in which case it helps my code keep guarantees. But for view-layer code, I really don't get why a lot of people are dying to use Typescript that way.

Beyond that, pretty much every Typescript project I've been introduced to suffers from just as many bugs as codebases that use plain JavaScript. Strict typing at compile time doesn't replace conscientious development practices and rigorous testing.
3 comments
Swizec 1165 days ago
> But for view-layer code, I really don't get why a lot of people are dying to use Typescript that way.

"view-layer code" is underselling how complex many modern webapps can get. When you've got 10+ engineers across 2+ teams running around in your 30,000+ line codebase, TypeScript offers a lot of benefits and makes overall iteration speed much much faster.

You don't need TypeScript for small/personal projects though. As long as everything fits in your memory, you're fine.

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kevinak 1165 days ago
Rich and I chatted a bit about TS vs JSDoc for library authors today on the monthly dev vlog: https://www.youtube.com/live/MJHO6FSioPI?feature=share&t=95

TL;DR - Svelte's codebase will move to JSDoc types but still use TS.

To be clear - Svelte will still have full support for TS, nothing is changing for users of Svelte.

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no_wizard 1165 days ago
Why adopt the inferior way of declaring types?

I just don’t get the issues. TS is great, and generating good types directly from TS is easy with API extractor[0]. It makes it so easy.

The resistance to me from the community boggles me and I’m sad Rich feels this way

[0]: https://api-extractor.com/

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kevinak 1165 days ago
It's not about generating types though. The reasons are laid out in the video.
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dimitrios1 1165 days ago
Typing only eliminates a certain class of bugs. And user-defined type systems scare me. I loved ReasonML precisely because you got typing (and confident enforcement) for free through the HM type system, but TypeScript always struck me as the embodiment of "now you have two problems"
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TylerE 1165 days ago
Agreed. If I'm dealing with strong static types, good inference (and TS / Rust / Whatever ain't it) is a must. ' If I'm going to invoke a bunch of ceremony every time I blink might as well write Java.
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aastronaut 1165 days ago
> "now you have two problems"

Interesting take. I always look at it like "now you have a better solution for your modeling needs".

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