TypeScript in 50 Lessons — Intro
Michael Chan ·Welcome to the TypeScript in 50 Lessons club!
This is a short-term community group for owners of the book TypeScript in 50 Lessons. The only requirement is that you own the book.
- Amazaon — Kindle-only (affiliate link)
- Smashing Magazine — all formats
During this first group, we’ll cover the introduction, learning expectations, format, and appetite for future meetings.
Notes
Why are you interested in TypeScript?
- MG: props
- BM:
- Hype, keeping up with the industry
- Already has a toe dipped in via JSDoc
- People often introduce one of two ways:
- “JS devs are bad at their jobs and need TS”
- “Better dev tooling for existing code”
- TWM:
- Used it at work
- Identifying what you don’t know you don’t know
- MA:
- Getting foundation right
- VP:
- Dev Tooling
- Large teams sharing
- FT:
- Working with TS for months but getting lost in complications
- Career development
Which structural typed languages have you used?
- C#
- Java
- Scala
Takeaways from Intro
Values
- Properly used TypeScript can be like pairing with your past self
- Guides refactoring
- Errors at “authoring” time
- We can progressively migrate to TypeScript
Identity
If there are “TypeScript Devs,” I guess the rest of us are “Babel Devs”
De-motivations
- Condescending community (JS devs are less than)
Persona to avoid
- Proselyte
- “Superman for problems that don’t exist” — BM
Persona to embrace
- Acknowledge business constraints
- Not everyone is allowed to use TS
- Progressive adoption (use TS where it provides the most lift)
Places where TypeScript might not be a great fit
- Action faking
- “I just need to improve these types before starting that feature…”
- “Types are like concrete. They provide a strong foundation, if a rigid foundation is what you need”
- “gluing lego together”
- Ask Kyle Simpson’s question “What are you losing with TypeScript?”
- Where exploration speed of exploration is a high value
Chapters we’re most excited about
- Generics
- Conditional Types
Speaker
Michael Chan