Learn about the key difference between TypeScript Vs JavaScript including feature comparison and code comparison with examples:
We will be taking a look at the features of both languages and understand what we can do with each of these languages. The tutorial would also enlist the differences between Javascript and Typescript. We shall also take a look at a small code example written in each of these languages.
Finally, we shall go through the advantages of Javascript over Typescript and vice versa. Towards the end, we have also included a list of briefly answered FAQ’s.
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Table of Contents:
TypeScript Vs JavaScript
This tutorial aims at explaining what is TypeScript and what is JavaScript in detail. Though both the languages are used for developing the web application, we shall understand the differences between them and areas of their use.
So let’s get going and begin the tutorial by understanding what Javascript and Typescript are.
What Is JavaScript
Javascript is a client-side scripting language that was developed by Netscape in 1995. It can however also be used for server-side scripting with the use of Node.js. It is called a scripting language because unlike programming languages it is not compiled before execution.
Instead, each line or command is interpreted one by one during runtime. The programs written in Javascript are called scripts. These scripts are directly interpreted and executed by the browser. It is supported by almost all web browsers.
Javascript enables us to create dynamic web pages. For example, displaying the latest news updates, animated graphics, validating user inputs, changing content without page reloading, etc.
All such features can be made possible using Javascript. These scripts can be embedded within HTML pages that can be interpreted by the browser during runtime.
What Is TypeScript
Managed by Microsoft, Typescript is an Object-oriented programming language. It was officially released in October 2012. It is in fact a superset of Javascript. TypeScript came into existence to overcome the drawbacks of JavaScript.
It is useful for the development of large applications. It can also be used to develop JavaScript applications for client-side and server-side execution. TypeScript code is converted into its equivalent JavaScript code before execution. This is done using the TypeScript compiler or Babel.
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Typescript supports static typing. Static typing is a feature that checks the correctness of a variable type during compiling. This feature helps in identifying Type issues and fixing them at compile time itself.
Need For JavaScript
Javascript is so much around that, being a developer, it may indeed be quite impossible to work without it. The need for Javascript and its importance can be understood by taking a look at the areas of its use as stated below.
Introduction to Javascript opened the doors to a whole new world of interactive web pages. We all know that HTML is used to display the static content on a page and CSS helps in styling the web pages. But it is Javascript that helps to make these pages interactive.
Listed below are some features:
- Accepting and validating user input is possible with Javascript.
- Features like animations or dynamic content being displayed on a web page is again possible with the use of Javascript.
- Use of drop-down menus, hover interactivity, etc., are some more features that are available with the use of Javascript.
Need For TypeScript
As mentioned above Typescript is an Object-oriented programming language and a superset of Javascript. Given below are the points that would help you to understand its need.
- The need for Typescript can be mainly attributed to the shortcomings of Javascript.
- Typescript can be used for the development of large applications.
- It also supports optional static typing to the language. Static typing is a feature that checks the correctness of a variable type during compiling. This feature helps in identifying Type issues and fixing them at compile time itself.
- As TypeScript code is converted into its equivalent JavaScript code before execution, thus just like Javascript, Typescript programs do not require any specific runtime environment and are portable across various browsers and operating systems.
Thus, besides the features of Javascript, Typescript offers additional benefits too. All these facts make Typescript popular among programmers.
JavaScript Vs TypeScript
Feature Comparison
| Javascript | Typescript |
|---|---|
| It is a scripting language that helps to create interactive web pages. | It is a superset of Javascript. It includes the features of Javascript along with some more additional features. |
| It was created by Brendan Eich at Netscape and maintained by ECMA. | It was created at Microsoft by Anders Hejlsberg and is now maintained by Microsoft. |
| Code written in Javascript is interpreted during execution. | Code written in Typescript is compiled before execution. |
| Javascript does not support Type Static typing. | Typescript supports both static and dynamic typing. |
| It is mainly suitable for small projects. | It is useful in the development of large or complex projects. |
| Javascript code is directly executed by the browser. | Typescript code is first compiled by the Typescript compiler before being executed by the browser. |
| Javascript does not allow prototyping. | Prototyping is possible. |
| It is easy to learn and master. | Comparatively, needs time to learn and master. |
| No build setup is required, as static typing is not supported. | NPM package is required for using static typing. |
| As there is no compilation, bugs can be found only during run time. | Bugs may be identified during compiling. |
| It has a large community support along with great documentation for issues that one might face. | The community support is not that large yet. |
Code Comparison
Given below is a small code snippet to show you how a piece of code looks like in Javascript and how the same code would be written in Typescript. This code snippet shows how the code written in Typescript and Javascript would look like for addition of two numbers.
Typescript
function add (a, b) {
return a+b;
}
var c = add(a, b);
console.log (‘The result is – ‘ + c);
Javascript
function add (a, b) {
return a+b;
}
var c = add(a, b);
document.write (‘The result is – ‘ + c);
Advantages
JavaScript Over TypeScript
Although Typescript outweighs Javascript in most ways, yet there are some advantages that Javascript offers over Typescript.
Given below are some:
- Javascript can be executed directly in a web browser as it is a scripting language. Typescript on the other hand has to be first compiled using the TypeScript compiler for the browser to execute it.
- Javascript is recommended for smaller projects instead of Typescript due to the fact that it supports static typing, which takes more time.
TypeScript Over JavaScript
As Typescript is a superset of Javascript, it thus offers a lot of additional features that are not available in Javascript.
Thus, the advantages that Typescript offers over Javascript are stated below:
- TypeScript is a preferred choice for the development of large or complex applications, whereas Javascript is preferred for smaller projects.
- Typescript supports optional static typing to the language which is not available in Javascript.
- Typescript allows for easier code restructuring when compared to Javascript. This also makes identifying and fixing code errors in Typescript faster.
- Code written in Typescript is concise and better-structured when compared to Javascript code.
- As TypeScript is a type-checked language, it thus helps developers to write programs confidently without the worry of accidentally introducing errors related to the data type.
- Typescript is considered a more reliable language, mainly due to its optional static typing feature.
Websites Using TypeScript Vs JavaScript
Some of the popular websites that have been built using JavaScript are Yahoo, Google, YouTube, Amazon, Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Wikipedia, etc.
Some of the popular companies that use TypeScript are Microsoft, Google, Alibaba Travels, Accenture, etc.
Frequently Asked Questions
Q #1) Is TypeScript better than JavaScript?
Answer: It should be remembered that Typescript is a superset of Javascript. It thus includes the features of Javascript along with some additional features.
The answer to this would however depend on the project where it is to be used. Generally, for larger and complex programs it is better however for smaller projects Javascript is recommended.
Q #2) Is TypeScript easier than JavaScript?
Answer: Typescript is a superset of Javascript. So learning Javascript is in fact easier when compared to Typescript.
Q #3) Is TypeScript frontend or backend?
Answer: Typescript is a superset of Javascript, so it can be used at all the places where Javascript is used. Thus, Typescript like Javascript can be used for front end as well as backend.
Q #4) Where is TypeScript used?
Answer: TypeScript is mainly used for the development of large applications. It can be used to develop applications for both client-side and server-side. A TypeScript program is compiled into a Javascript program before execution.
Q #5) Is TypeScript type-safe?
Answer: Yes, as Typescript supports static typing, it, therefore, checks the correctness of a variable type during compiling.
Q #6) Is es6 TypeScript?
Answer: As we know that TypeScript is a superset of JavaScript which is compiled to plain JavaScript before execution. TypeScript is in fact the ES6 version of JavaScript along with some additional features.
Q #7) Will Typescript replace JavaScript?
Answer: Typescript cannot totally replace Javascript. There are a couple of differences in the features offered by Typescript and Javascript. Although Typescript offers all features of Javascript Typescript is generally used for complex and large projects. For smaller projects, Javascript is always preferred.
Q #8) Is TypeScript worth using?
Answer: Yes. For the fact that some of the additional features that are of great use are offered by Typescript that are not available in Javascript. Typescript supports static typing.
Static typing is a feature that checks the correctness of a variable type during compiling. So errors can be caught at compile time. Moreover, Typescript is concise and well-structured thereby helping the developers to code and find defects faster.
Q #9) Will JavaScript die?
Answer: As of now, it can be said that Javascript would continue to remain for a long time to come. In fact, its popularity has been increasing with time. This is due to the fact that it is easy to learn and master, thereby helping in the quick development of interactive web pages.
Q #10) How is TypeScript converted to JavaScript?
Answer: Typescript code cannot be directly understood by the browser. It has to be compiled into JavaScript before execution. Typescript code is thus transpired to equivalent Javascript code using TypeScript compiler or Babel.
Conclusion
This TypeScript vs JavaScript tutorial covered the features and explained what we can do with Javascript and Typescript. We also saw how Javascript and Typescript differ. We also took a look at a small code example written in each of these languages.
Finally, we also saw the advantages of Javascript over Typescript and vice versa.
We hope this tutorial would have been useful and would have helped you to understand the difference between Javascript and Typescript.
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