TypeScript vs JavaScript- know the difference here

The programming world is extremely vast and can be considered as never-ending. With endless programming languages, frameworks, coding techniques, and whatnot, mobile app developers can explore so much.

Under this myriad of programming languages, scripting languages such as JavaScript and TypeScript have their own space. It includes unique features that can be used for specific tasks. However, just like other programming languages, scripting also has its own features that differentiate them from each other.

So what are the major typescript vs javascript through which you can differentiate them? What makes these two platforms good competition for each other. We will cover all its major factors in the blog below.

But before that, let us know their popularity in the market. JavaScript is in the market for years and is used by developers around the globe. Whereas, TypeScript is a bit new to the programming world but is a great advancement to it. Here is a small glimpse into the popularity chart of both the platforms.

With this said, let us get down to understand the basics of typescript vs javascript. 

What is JavaScript?

In 1995, Brendan Eich worked on the prototype for the Netscape Navigator web browser as the scripting language. However, initially, people confused JavaScript with Java due to the similarity in names but the fact was that both are extremely different platforms. 

Read More – Java vs Python

JavaScript has reached a different level of popularity and with time has evolved at a drastic level. It supported the modern web browser amazingly well and hence it was used by the leading mobile app development company.

With this, JavaScript gained a lot of popularity and was slowly considered as a major part of the development world. The introduction of server-side JavaScript and Node.js affected the runtime environment and enhanced development speed.

In layman terms, JavaScript, commonly called JS, is the scripting language that is used to develop the web pages. The platform works on the HTML code and is an interpreted language. Hence, there is no need to compile it. The language is used to develop interactive, creative, and dynamic web pages with .js extension.

JavaScript can also be integrated with different technologies such as XML, Rest APIs, etc. The motive is to use the platform as complementary for web apps. However, the programming language is best for the apps that contain limited lines of code and is not complex in nature. 

Read More – Frontend JavaScript Frameworks Guide

Why use JavaScript?

JavaScript is commonly used due to its extensive use for server and client-side for modern web applications. This open-source programming language is elegant, flexible, functional, and works on the object-oriented programming concepts. There are also a number of variables included in JavaScript that includes an array, string, numbers, boolean, and so on.

Here is the list of JavaScript characteristics and features to help you understand it in a better way.

• Added dependencies
• Supported framework
• Flexible and powerful programming language
• Utilize server and client-side
• Great scripting language for the beginners
• Well developed testing workflow
• Support for modules, interfaces, classes, etc
• Run easily in any browser with compiled code

Features of JavaScript

JavaScript is a platform that offers a number of benefits to the development world. It is full of features that include:

• Powerful, flexible, and dynamic language 
• Framework unsupported
• Used for cross-platform app development
• Strong testing workflow
• Easy to start for beginners
• Added objects to use

Benefits of JavaScript

• JavaScript is an old language that is around the development world for years. Due to this, the community of this platform is extremely wide and any error can be well taken care of instantly.
• One of the major benefits of JavaScript is that it supports native browsers without following any extra step as in TypeScript. 
• The platform is extremely flexible in nature

With these benefits said, here are the major pros and cons of JavaScript.

How to use JavaScript?

It is easy to use JavaScript when the HTML codes are used. All the mobile app developers need to do is embed the code into the HTML code then create a separate JavaScript file. The file is mainly known as a Script element that includes necessary Script tags.

Here is a list of brands that are using JavaScript language.

What is TypeScript?

In simple words, you can say that TypeScript is the extended version of JavaScript with added features. It can be considered as its superset that can be installed as a Node.JS package using the open-source command-line compiler. 

Read More – Node JS Vs Angular JS

Mobile app developers use the TypeScript in the Visual Studio 2019 and Visual Studio 2017 along with WebStorm, Visual Studio Code, that are added to Atom, Sublime Text, Vim, Emacs, Eclipse, etc.

There are a number of options added in TypeScript that includes modules, classes, types to JavaScript, hosting support tools, and added Angular framework. In addition to this, TypeScript has the ability to revamp the development world with productive practices and tools including code refactoring and static checking. 

Read more – Introduction to Angular

JavaScript codes are accepted in the TypeScript in the form of valid with the addition of compile-time, annotations, modules, and classes that helps in building robust software. TypeScript is the ideal programming language when a large and complex project is developed. 

Why use TypeScript?

TypeScript scales JavaScript code and due to its open-source language feature is extremely easy to debug and read. It is a simple platform that is easy to debug and read by the compilers that makes it highly productive.

In addition to this, if we talk to iOS and Android app developers then it will be easy to learn that can be implemented as per the requirement of the project. The Script language also uses JavaScript that makes it ideal for the programmers and implements the frameworks and libraries.

Here are the major reasons that make developers opt for TypeScript for their projects.

• Superset of JavaScript
• Supports API Documentation and JS libraries
• Use of object-oriented programming techniques
• Better code structuring
• Better development tool and time support
• Easy conversion of the code to JavaScript

Features of TypeScript

Typescript is a platform that is used due to a number of features along with classes, interface, and typing. Here are a few of them. 

• Class-based and object-oriented programming language
• Rich IDE to utilize autocomplete and code navigation
• Private interfaces and members
• Supports sub-interfaces, interfaces, subclasses, and classes
• Client-side development is extremely scalable with HTML5
• Supports ES6
• Able to be refactored and discoverable codes
• Adde functional features
• Relatively easy to maintain
• Maintainability
• Bug prevention and code navigation

Benefits of TypeScript

• Better coding for complex and larger projects
• It offers a better collaboration of code for the developers that can get code messier. But to detect the errors in the messier code easily, the Type Safety command is used for better and efficient coding experience.
• It enhances productivity due to the use of a number of platforms such as dynamic typing, ECMAScript 6 code, etc.

Apart from this, here is a list of the major pros and cons of TypeScript programming language. 

How to use TypeScript

The coding is done in the TypeScript using the .ts extension that helps in defining the whole concept. However, it is essential for the developers to get a compiler installed that is used to compile the JavaScript file with TypeScript code with the “tsc.ts” command.

The TypeScript files are converted into JavaScript that can be used for any code editor including HTML. This helps in converting the code and using it at any browser that makes it an ideal choice.

To understand it better, here are the brands that are using TypeScript.

Head-to-Head Comparison – TypeScript Vs JavaScript

In order to understand the major difference between TypeScript and JavaScript, we need to dig deeper into the programming world. 

Parameters	TypeScript	JavaScript
Language	Object-oriented programming (OOP) language	Scripting language
Type	Strongly type OOP language	Interpreted & lightweight
Learning Curve	Prior knowledge of scripting language	Easy to learn & flexible
Time	Takes compilation time	Faster
File extension	.ts or .tsx	.js
Client/Server-side	Mainly for client-side	Both for server and client-side
Annotations	Constant code annotation to get the main features	No need of annotation
Data Binding	Uses concept like interfaces or types	No concept available
Static typing	Supports	No concept
Syntax	Uses variables, modules, comments expressions, statements, functions, etc.	Uses Script tags with the main tags <script> and </script> used at the start and end of the code
Interface	Has an interface	No interface
Module support	Supports	No support
Prototyping features	Features available	No features
Optional parameter features	Supports	No support
Developers community	Smaller community base	Large community base
Preference to Choose	Code is cleaner, constant, reusable, and simple that is ideal for large projects	Preferable for smaller projects
Npm Package	Uses the concept of interfaces and types	No such concept
Ecosystem	An intuitive and powerful ecosystem that adds features like intersection, union types, union, and discriminated	No need to build step to create code and offers options to explore
Compilation	Require	No requirements
Salary of Developers	Annual pay around $1473,687 to $104,264	Annual pay around $110,777 to $140,113
Light/Heavy Weight	Heavyweight platform	Light-weight platform

When to Choose – TypeScript Vs JavaScript

With the major difference and TypeScript vs JavaScript pros and cons out of the way, let us understand when it will be ideal to choose TypeScript and JavaScript separately to make the right choice for the project. 

What is TypeScript used for:

• TypeScript is an ideal platform when it comes to preferring compile-time type checking. The platform allows the developers to verify their code during the runtime only that avoids compile-time validation.
• It is best when there are multiple or large projects in the queue especially when a team of developers is working together. To make the development easier, TypeScript is generally used. 
• TypeScript works on the new mobile app development frameworks and libraries that help developers to work on the new projects easily.

What is JavaScript used for:

• It is best for small projects that depend upon the smaller code.
• JavaScript depends upon build tools to execute the JavaScript code to develop the applications. 
• The platform has a strong team that works on the strong testing workflow using the test-driven development code. 
• JavaScript code can include a number of libraries that help in defining the development process. It added dependencies to help in adding an extra package to the code that helps in code mitigation. 

Advantages of choosing TypeScript over JavaScript

As an end result, many people might feel that JavaScript is a better platform for their business so let us give you an insight into the TypeScript advantages over JavaScript followed by its disadvantages

• Compilation error is a major TypeScript Vs JavaScript difference that is a plus point for the TypeScript developers. It finds errors during development time that minimize the chances of getting errors during testing. 
• TypeScript is just the extended version of JavaScript that has included a number of features in it. 
• Another major benefit of TypeScript over JavaScript is that it supports static typing and is strongly typed. 

The only disadvantage of opting for TypeScript over JavaScript is that it takes a bit more time to compile the whole code that is limited in JavaScript. This can answer your queries around is TypeScript slower than JavaScript. TypeScript is not slow but it requires some time for the compilation. 

Conclusion

As you can conclude, JavaScript is the ideal platform for small projects and a new team. It requires a good knowledge base, higher expertise, and good project management. Whereas, TypeScript also needs these aspects but is best when it comes to complex projects.

The TypeScript Vs JavaScript can give you a better understanding of the programming world that will make it easy for developers to choose the ideal platform. But remember, JavaScript is not going anywhere and TypeScript is just going to stay around with JavaScript. The only thing that will be replaced is the way we code.