This chapter covers
- The benefits of programming in TypeScript over JavaScript
- How to compile the TypeScript code into JavaScript
- How to work with the Visual Studio Code editor
The goal of this chapter is to get you started with TypeScript development. We’ll start by paying respect to JavaScript, and then we’ll share our own opinion on why you should be programming in TypeScript. To round out this chapter, we’ll compile and run a very basic program so you can follow the workflow from writing a program in TypeScript to compiling it into runnable JavaScript.
If you’re a seasoned JavaScript developer you’d need a good reason to switch to TypeScript, which would have to be compiled into JavaScript before deployment anyway. If you’re a backend developer planning to learn the frontend ecosystem, you’d also need a reason for learning any programming language other than JavaScript, so let’s start with the reasoning.