I think type checking helps with that both directly and indirectly.
It helps directly by making it much easier to know what type or shape everything is. Without types, all you have are variable names and tracing the code back up the stack yourself. Sometimes good naming conventions are enough. More often than not, a variable called `product` can be one of 3 different types and you have no idea why unless you go up the call stack to figure it out.
I find it also helps indirectly by making clever code harder to write. The dynamic nature of JavaScript encourages a degree of cleverness and meta-programming that makes things harder to understand. While you can do the same in TypeScript, making the complier happy makes it much harder to do so, which encourages more straightforward code.
Of course, you can write clever type definitions that are impossible to follow. Sometimes you do want to do some meta-programming without fighting the compiler. But in my experience, the path of least resistance when writing TypeScript is fairly straightforward OOP that tends to lead to clearer code.
> I find it also helps indirectly by making clever code harder to write. The dynamic nature of JavaScript encourages a degree of cleverness and meta-programming that makes things harder to understand. While you can do the same in TypeScript, making the complier happy makes it much harder to do so, which encourages more straightforward code.
Interesting.
Not having to define types makes JS feel very fluid to me when using it to jump into a problem and quickly test out ideas.
You can figure out solutions fast, and I suppose with that power comes irresponsibility for those who don't care to clear up the chaos they are able to leave behind in the fast iterations towards discovering the implementation they seek. In short - it takes discipline, and your argument it seems is that typescript enforces a certain degree of discipline... pros and cons to both.
It's not necessarily about the time it takes to type the type definitions.
static typing leads to developers trying to represent the "real" world in a bunch of categories and arbitrary boxes. Thats not necessarily a good thing because you can loose much time in bike shedding discussions like "Is a person class still a valid person class if it has no Surname" which do not provide actual value to your product.
Recommended watch: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YR5WdGrpoug
It helps directly by making it much easier to know what type or shape everything is. Without types, all you have are variable names and tracing the code back up the stack yourself. Sometimes good naming conventions are enough. More often than not, a variable called `product` can be one of 3 different types and you have no idea why unless you go up the call stack to figure it out.
I find it also helps indirectly by making clever code harder to write. The dynamic nature of JavaScript encourages a degree of cleverness and meta-programming that makes things harder to understand. While you can do the same in TypeScript, making the complier happy makes it much harder to do so, which encourages more straightforward code.
Of course, you can write clever type definitions that are impossible to follow. Sometimes you do want to do some meta-programming without fighting the compiler. But in my experience, the path of least resistance when writing TypeScript is fairly straightforward OOP that tends to lead to clearer code.