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Using TypeScript with React

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Re: Using TypeScript with React

#71

Post by cryptica »

bauerd wrote: post #36

I'm currently trying to revive a 2yrs old codebase written with TypeScript/React/Redux. I made the capital error of not checking in node_modules apparently or pinning versions (ie using yarn or npm shrinkwrap), as I now get tons and tons of type errors from dependencies on build. Problem seems to be that all the @types packages are somehow out of sync/broken/hell I don't know. I also don't have access to CI logs anym…

I guess people in the React community are already used to massive dependency bloat, constantly failing vulnerability reports, library version incompatibility, huge install times, huge compile times, source mapping issues, dependency issues and build + linking issues across various environments so I guess TypeScript doesn't add much additional pain. But what if I told you that it's possible to build cleaner, more stable, higher quality apps without React, without TypeScript and without build steps and you can do it in half the time!

Re: Using TypeScript with React

#72

Post by a_wild_dandan »

fabian2k wrote: post #32
h0h0h0h0111 wrote: post #22

I've been writing Typescript with React for quite a while now and these are my feelings so far: - Typescript type system is pretty awesome, and allows the expression of some things really elegantly; in particular, string literal types are quite cool for component props that feel "htmly", union and intersection types are great for making reusable/generic components and Partial is cool for making typesafe component sta…

> ... but docs for anything React related to Typescript (types of components, etc) are harder to come by I just saw this linked today and didn't look it through entirely, but this React+Typescript cheat sheet looks very interesting for React-specific issues you might encounter with Typescript: https://github.com/typescript-cheatsheets/react-typescript-c... For example it explained an issue with the type inference for…

This is wonderful, and probably a better strategy than the one I've employed (e.g. hovering the onClick attribute of some component, seeing what type pops up in VSCode, copying it, and using that for my type, done!).

Re: Using TypeScript with React

#73

Post by eropple »

verttii wrote: post #68
eropple wrote: post #63

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I feel almost the exact opposite: TypeScript is delightfully terse while still achieving its main goal of looking and feeling like JavaScript. I've used languages where things start looking like line noise (hi, Scala) and I very strongly do not get that feeling out of TypeScript. You have discriminated unions and the compiler is clever about them, so you can implement ADTs if you want them with a little but not a nas…

I guess it depends on what you compare with. If you're coming from Java or the like, surely TS does not feel particularly verbose. However, coming from a truly terse language like Haskell you'll just feel TS is too verbose and not very elegant. TS is the most verbose and least elegant of the languages I'm personally using, on par with Dart. ADTs not only feel dirty because they're not first class citizens (you build…

I'm sure that, if you're carrying a torch for Haskell, TypeScript can feel very primitive--though I don't enjoy writing Haskell, in my experience it turns into an exercise in navel-gazing and write-only code compared to TypeScript or F#--but on the other hand normal people can write it and be productive and that's kind of important, yeah? I think the TS folks did a great job in making something that I can bring into engineering shops to make average to average-plus developers significantly better and significantly safer.

I'd really disagree with the notion that discriminated unions/ADTs are useless; the compiler is clever and will constrain the type in an `if` or a `switch` (particularly useful with an enum type, too). I use this regularly and it's really effective; my `nestjs-auth` library makes it more or less a requirement and its users seem to really dig it. And if you do it as an abstract class instead of a key, you can use polymorphism to take care of a lot of what would otherwise be pretty clunky--this is how you can make a solid maybe/option type in the vein of Scala.

Re: Using TypeScript with React

#74

Post by a_wild_dandan »

latchkey wrote: post #4
hki99 wrote: post #3

During my internship we've built a large prototype using React+Typescript, and here are some of my key take aways from it: - Quite often when using unreleased APIs, you turn to using "any" all over the place. - Development time is slower than writing in regular JS/React. This started to become a major issue due to the nature of our project being a prototype (fast iterations on ideas and features). - Lots of frustrati…

Development time isn't slower when you factor in all the bugs it saves you from dealing with down the road when you're either wonder what is the type of an object or why something isn't working during runtime that a compiler could have caught.

Also, if you're working with an untyped APIs, define the types you're using. It doesn't have to be complete or perfect. But having that formal contract will save you time and make explicit your assumptions. In the best case, you can contribute those types to the API to everyone's benefit.

Re: Using TypeScript with React

#75

Post by cryptica »

siempreb wrote: post #45
bauerd wrote: post #36

I'm currently trying to revive a 2yrs old codebase written with TypeScript/React/Redux. I made the capital error of not checking in node_modules apparently or pinning versions (ie using yarn or npm shrinkwrap), as I now get tons and tons of type errors from dependencies on build. Problem seems to be that all the @types packages are somehow out of sync/broken/hell I don't know. I also don't have access to CI logs anym…

> now throws ~30 errors on build Yep, it's a beautiful technology, total type safe heaven. Two basic basic rules if you want to work with TS: 1: apply the 'any' type 2: tweak TSC config so it won't complain anymore All companies I worked for in the past few years that use TS did this to keep TS 'out of the way'. And with that you completely annihilate the main benefit of using TS! I think it's hilarious and sad at th…

>> Two basic basic rules if you want to work with TS: 1: apply the 'any' type 2: tweak TSC config so it won't complain anymore

That should be at the top of every page on the TypeScript documentation website. It would save developers so much suffering.

>> All companies I worked for in the past few years that use TS did this to keep TS 'out of the way'. And with that you completely annihilate the main benefit of using TS! I think it's hilarious and sad at the same time.

I'm still looking forward to the TypeScript version when they invent dynamic typing and enforce it at compile time.

I have similar experiences. What I've found is that a team which can build a high quality application in TypeScript is generally capable of building an even higher quality application in JavaScript in half the time and with better, higher quality test coverage.

>> I'm curious btw how long TS will live, especially when you realize that within a few years we can write in virtually any language through WebAssembly. Good luck with it anyways.

I look forward to this glorious day. Short live TypeScript!

Re: Using TypeScript with React

#76

Post by vedantroy »

verttii wrote: post #68
eropple wrote: post #63

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I feel almost the exact opposite: TypeScript is delightfully terse while still achieving its main goal of looking and feeling like JavaScript. I've used languages where things start looking like line noise (hi, Scala) and I very strongly do not get that feeling out of TypeScript. You have discriminated unions and the compiler is clever about them, so you can implement ADTs if you want them with a little but not a nas…

I guess it depends on what you compare with. If you're coming from Java or the like, surely TS does not feel particularly verbose. However, coming from a truly terse language like Haskell you'll just feel TS is too verbose and not very elegant. TS is the most verbose and least elegant of the languages I'm personally using, on par with Dart. ADTs not only feel dirty because they're not first class citizens (you build…

I don't understand the desire for terse code, it makes things harder to read.

I also think Typescript makes the right tradeoffs, yes it may not have a Haskell-level type system, but in return, it has amazing integration with JS code and existing libraries, and no runtime.

As a side note, coming from someone whose previous exposure to type systems was Java and Kotlin, Typescript seems to have a pretty powerful type system. Yes, it may not have some/many Haskell-level features but I question whether those would have been necessary in the first place. At some point a more rigorous type system must stop generating value, otherwise we would all be using coq.

Re: Using TypeScript with React

#77

Post by gambler »

jillesvangurp wrote: post #35

Typescript is a lot easier to deal with if you stop treating it as optional and do it from day 1. Avoid using the any type and things fall in to place. If it's tedious, you're probably doing something wrong or sub-optimal. Or you're just dealing with a bit of hairy old javascript that probably needs a bit of refactoring in any case. IMHO we're reaching the point where typescript (or similar languages) should be used…

>If it's tedious, you're probably doing something wrong or sub-optimal.

>IMHO we're reaching the point where typescript (or similar languages) should be used by default over untyped javascript in professional environments. It's like having tests, which are also not generally considered optional.

Gotta love JS community. It flip-flops on some major aspect of system design roughly every year, yet people continue to arrogantly spout their opinions about system design as if they had been correct about everything all along. Not "these are the benefits, these are downsides" not "I've improved in X by using Y", always "nobody needs X, everyone must do Y, and if you're not doing Z you're wrong and unprofessional". Zero self-awareness.

Re: Using TypeScript with React

#78

Post by fpgaminer »

jillesvangurp wrote: post #35

Typescript is a lot easier to deal with if you stop treating it as optional and do it from day 1. Avoid using the any type and things fall in to place. If it's tedious, you're probably doing something wrong or sub-optimal. Or you're just dealing with a bit of hairy old javascript that probably needs a bit of refactoring in any case. IMHO we're reaching the point where typescript (or similar languages) should be used…

Totally agree, and I suggest turning the strict option on (in tsconfig). There are a plethora of additional bugs that the TypeScript compiler will catch for you, but they're turned off by default (though I think create-react-app turns it on now?). For example, making sure class members are initialized. For a greenfield project I see no reason not to turn it on; TS obviously leaves it off by default because it would make working with older code that much harder.

Re: Using TypeScript with React

#79

Post by wry_discontent »

cryptica wrote: post #71
bauerd wrote: post #36

I'm currently trying to revive a 2yrs old codebase written with TypeScript/React/Redux. I made the capital error of not checking in node_modules apparently or pinning versions (ie using yarn or npm shrinkwrap), as I now get tons and tons of type errors from dependencies on build. Problem seems to be that all the @types packages are somehow out of sync/broken/hell I don't know. I also don't have access to CI logs anym…

I guess people in the React community are already used to massive dependency bloat, constantly failing vulnerability reports, library version incompatibility, huge install times, huge compile times, source mapping issues, dependency issues and build + linking issues across various environments so I guess TypeScript doesn't add much additional pain. But what if I told you that it's possible to build cleaner, more stab…

I'm listening...

Re: Using TypeScript with React

#80

Post by a_wild_dandan »

manishsharan wrote: post #5

If you are going to learn a new programming language for web UI, why not go for Elm ? You get so much more than just static types with Elm.

You're not learning a "new" language. You're optionally adding types to JavaScript. You can write pure JS in TS.
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