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What is TypeScript and Why You Should Use it in 2020

Gaël Thomas on August 01, 2020

Nowadays, Javascript is a popular programming language used in almost all websites. The first stable version of TypeScript was released in 2014, an...
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Oskar Karlsson

I hated typescript. I was thinking that javascript and dynamic typing is the best but at some point I tried it out and I have never looked back, and I have now been using it for 6 years and I do not trust javascript without types anymore ;)

Thanks for your post!

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Gaël Thomas

Ahaha, indeed at the beginning I think it's more common to hate it! But as you told, once you used it a few times, it's becoming one of the mandatory. :)

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Annie Taylor Chen

I remember I battled with typescript to make the code to compile and run more than I battle with writing the functions that do the job.... lol

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Gaël Thomas • Edited

The first time you use new technology is always like this. But once you get used to it, it's better!
When you're not used to types, it can be a bit difficult. But once you know how to use them, it's a must have for large projects! 😄

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Annie Taylor Chen • Edited

Yeah I can see the benefits in the bigger team. Often you need to use other components not built by you , then typescript helps you to use the right input.

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Gaël Thomas

Yes exactly, usually when you’re reading code you can have a better understanding without printing everything.
When you’re using projects with massive data structures, it’s easier to visualise how the data is stored.

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Andrew Baisden

Good article Typescript is something I need to learn again. How many Typescript jobs are actually out there though I keep having recruiters ask for just javascript.

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Gaël Thomas • Edited

Thank you 👍
I don't know if there is a lot of jobs where TypeScript is a requirement.
However, if you are a JavaScript developer, for sure TypeScript will be an extra good knowledge.

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Sergey V.

A great article!

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Gaël Thomas

Thank you 🙏😊

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Oskar Karlsson

The first stable version of TypeScript was released on 28 April 2020

Did you mean 2012? devblogs.microsoft.com/typescript/...

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Gaël Thomas • Edited

Oh... I made an error; I was not sure about myself then I saw Wikipedia with "Preview release: 3.9 RC / 28 April 2020; 2 months ago" and "Stable release: 3.9.7 / 6 July 2020; 13 days ago". I didn't notice it was the last preview release and the last stable release!
After checking, the first version was in 2012, and the first stable version was in 2014.
Thank you for telling me this, I will update it now!

Wikipedia TypeScript