Posted on Tuesday, October 02 2012 @ 19:43 CEST by Thomas De Maesschalck
The software giant says it created TypeScript because JavaScript was never intended for the roles it has found itself serving today and lacks many of the structures developers find useful in other programming languages. TypeScript promises to add those extra bits, including features like static typing and classes.
That strategy seems not to be in play this time, as TypeScript is free, open source and compiles into garden-variety JavaScript that Microsoft has taken pains to state repeatedly will run on any browser, host or operating system.
TypeScript is also being pitched as a developer's saviour, as by extending JavaScript developers will have more and more potent tools to build the kind of large-scale apps being built around HTML 5 in the browser and on mobile devices. Apps destined for the Windows 8 store are also cited as worthy of the more robust environment TypeScript is said to afford.
