[ajanuary]

The type system in TypeScript isn't 'rigid'. It's both optional and structural. These combine to make it a heck of a lot more lightweight than something like C++ or Java.

The classes in TypeScript are a formalisation of a very common design pattern in Javascript, so obviously people do think it's useful. TypeScript takes the common practice and makes it more succinct. (Other than inheritance, which does seem a little un-JSy)

[zachrose]

Perhaps you understand TypeScript better than I do. My rough understanding is that TypeScript is JavaScript with what's essentially inline JSDoc. The compiler is just there to give hints and warnings. Is this right?

[Locke1689]

No. JSDoc is just hints. TypeScript offers a fuzzy type unification system.