| Status | Complete |
|---|---|
| Impact | High |
| Driver/s | @Matthew Wang |
| Approver/s | @Everyone |
| Date | Monday, August 25th |
| Links | Links to relevant research, pages, meetings, and related decisions |
Background
There aren’t many choices for frontend languages, but there is one obvious important decision - Plain JavaScript or TypeScript?
Relevant Data
- Some of the team (Zoy, Alex) have had no experience with either JavaScript or TypeScript
- Everyone has had an experience with at least one strongly typed language (C)
Options Considered
JavaScript (JS)
JavaScript is a dynamic, interpreted language that runs in browsers, enabling devs to manipulate HTML, manage events, and create interactive elements.
Positives:
- Easier to learn
- Ideal for quick scripting and prototyping
- It’s ubiquity ensures it can run (almost) anywhere
- Vast ecosystem of libraries (millions of packages see npm)
- Can still scale well with disciplined coding practices
Negatives:
- No type system
- Does not scale (although, can still be effective in larger projects with disciplined coding practices)
TypeScript (TS)
TypeScript is a superset of JavaScript, adding static typing and advanced features to the language.
Positives:
- Compiled to JavaScript so can run anywhere JS does
- Type system
- Fewer bugs
- More predictable / readable code
- Easier scaling to larger projects
- Features like interfaces, generics
- Strong tooling integrations - better intelligent suggestions (improves developer productivity)
Negatives:
- Steeper learning curve (requires understanding of typing)
- Must to compile to JS before code execution
- A bit more setup required
Discuss alternate options and their positives and negatives.
Action items
- Seek further feedback from all developers involved in frontend code (likely the whole team) to see what they are the most comfortable with
Outcome
TypeScript.