[dec0dedab0de]

“faster typescript” would also be a valid way to say the typescript compiler found a way to automatically write more performant javascript.

Just like if you said faster C++ that could mean the compiler runs faster, or the resulting machine code runs faster.

Just because the compile target is another human readable language doesn’t mean it ceases to be a typescript program.

I didn’t think this particular example was very ambiguous because a general 10x speed up in the resulting JS would be insane, and I have used typescript enough to wish the compiler was faster. Though if we’re being pedantic, which I enjoy doing sometimes, I would say it is ambiguous.

[jakelazaroff]

> “faster typescript” would also be a valid way to say the typescript compiler found a way to automatically write more performant javascript.

That still wouldn't make sense, in the same way that it wouldn't make sense to say "Python type hints found a way to automatically write more performant Python". With few exceptions, the TypeScript compiler doesn't have any runtime impact at all — it simply removes the type annotations, leaving behind valid JavaScript that already existed as source code. In fact, avoiding runtime impact is an explicit design goal of TypeScript [1].

They've even begun to chip away at the exceptions with the `erasableSyntaxOnly` flag [2], which disables features like enums that do emit code with runtime semantics.

[1] https://github.com/microsoft/TypeScript/wiki/TypeScript-Desi...

[2] https://www.typescriptlang.org/docs/handbook/release-notes/t...

[jessekv]

> Python type hints found a way to automatically write more performant Python

I get your point, but... this is exactly the premise of mypyc ;)

[pcthrowaway]

But typescript isn't a minifier or an optimizer. No part of typescript compiles it to anything that looks significantly different (besides enums).

Sure, lots of build tools do this, but that's not Typescript.

With very few exceptions, Typescript is written so that removing the Typescript-specific things makes it equivalent to the Javascript it transpiles to.