Incoming links: Asset bundler
TypeScript is good. It does find errors in your JavaScript. But it is a form of "turd polishing". But Ciro Santilli would rather have a polished turd than a non-polished one.
Part of the reason TypeScript became popular is due to the universality of asset bundlers. Once you are already using an asset bundler, changing the
.js extension into .ts to get a less shitty experience is an easy choice.The other big reason is that JavaScript is so lose with type conversions, notably undefined happily converting to strings without problems, and any missing properties of Object happily being undefined. We should actually use ES6 Map everywhere instead of using Objects as maps.
Since TypeScript is not the default form of the language however, it inevitably happens that you need to add external types for a gazillion projects that are using raw JavaScript, and sometimes fight a lot to get things to work. And so we have: github.com/DefinitelyTyped/DefinitelyTyped. Not sure if this is beautiful, or frightening.
But in the end, as with other type of static linters, TypeScript generally transforms a few hard to debug runtime issues, into a bunch of stupid to solve compile time issues, which is generally a good thing.
The fact that this it parses comments JSDoc comments in JavaScript files is quite amazing.
Examples under typescript. Run each one of them with:Helper:
npx tsc example.ts
node example.jstsr() (
# ts Run
f="$1"
npx tsc "$f"
node "${f%.*}.js"
)
tsr example.ts- typescript/inferFromInit.ts. Should fail with:since TypeScript infers the type of
hello.ts:2:1 - error TS2322: Type 'string' is not assignable to type 'number
ifrom first assignment asstring, and we then attempt anumberassignment later on - typescript/inferAfterInit.ts. Does not fail, as the first assignment cannot be computationally determined at runtime without breaking computer science.
- typescript/js-from-ts/main.ts: call JavaScript file typescript/js-from-ts/notmain.js from TypeScript.TODO we are unable to make it typecheck that require, i.e. make that fail, but we've seen cases in complex codebases where that did happen and www.typescriptlang.org/docs/handbook/intro-to-js-ts.html has infinite information on supporting it. So... how to make it fail??
npx tsc jsFromTs.ts && node jsFromTs.js - typescript/functionArgument.ts: basic argument tests
- typescript/functionOptionalArgument.ts:
f(n?: number)
- typescript/functionOptionalArgument.ts:
- typescript/functionOptions.ts:
f({n, s}: {n: number, s: string})
Some major annoyances of TypeScript:
- destructuring assignment in function arguments requires repeating all arguments:
- stackoverflow.com/questions/12710905/how-do-i-dynamically-assign-properties-to-an-object-in-typescript how to dynamically assign properties to objects without defining explicit interfaces? We really need a syntax of type:
const myobj = { i: 2, [s string], } if (something) { myobj.s = 'asdf' }
This is my stack. There are many like it, but this one is mine.My stack is my best friend. It is my life. I must master it as I must master my life.Without me, my stack is useless. Without my stack, I am useless. I must fire my requests true. I must shoot straighter than my hackers who are trying to kill me. I must shoot him before he shoots me. I will ...My stack is human, even as I am human, because it is my life. Thus, I will learn it as a brother. I will learn its weaknesses, its strength, its parts, its accessories, its ORMs and its asset bundlers. I will keep my stack clean and ready, even as I am clean and ready. We will become part of each other. We will ...Before God, I swear this creed. My stack and I are the defenders of my website. We are the masters of our enemy. We are the saviors of my life.So be it, until victory is mine and there is no enemy, but peace!
Explanation: this is an allusion to the Rifleman's Creed. This particular version talks about the website stack chosen for a website, i.e. the libraries used.
Ciro Santilli has always felt that choosing a stack is an almost religious choice. It is perhaps part of why the prayer style of the original Rifleman's Creed resonates with the web stack choice.
It is very hard to know how things are going go, the ups and downs, before putting big hours into it.
And once you start, it is hard, though not impossible, to move away.
The same allusion would make sense with any complex library choice, but it is particularly apparent in web development since there are so many different web stacks to choose from. A bit like rifles, they are all somewhat fungible, though of course not as much.