Show HN: ts-blank-space – fast TypeScript type-stripper • Hacker News Board

Show HN: ts-blank-space – fast TypeScript type-stripper

#1

Post by tchetwin » Thu, Sep 19, 2024, 1:45 PM UTC

We've built a new type-stripping compiler for TypeScript source: `ts-blank-space`

It's:

* 5.6x faster than `tsc` due to zero-codegen

* Written in TypeScript

* Uses the official TypeScript parser

* Accurate/preserved source locations

* In used in production

It uses the same novel approach that inspired Node 22.6.0's `--experimental-strip-types` functionality, released last month

Show HN: ts-blank-space – fast TypeScript type-stripper
bloomberg.github.io

Re: Show HN: ts-blank-space – fast TypeScript type-stripper

#2

Post by aclaymore » Thu, Sep 19, 2024, 1:58 PM UTC

Hi, I'm the author of ts-blank-space and happy to answer any questions you have :wave:

Re: Show HN: ts-blank-space – fast TypeScript type-stripper

#3

Post by matt-attack » Fri, Sep 20, 2024, 3:06 AM UTC

aclaymore wrote: post #2

Hi, I'm the author of ts-blank-space and happy to answer any questions you have :wave:

So is the idea that you would run a normal compiler once in your production pipeline to check syntax, and then re-run it with ts-blank-space to generate the final bundle?

Clearly you can’t eliminate the syntax checking correct?

Re: Show HN: ts-blank-space – fast TypeScript type-stripper

#4

Post by joshstrange » Fri, Sep 20, 2024, 10:01 AM UTC

I assume this is named (also) as reference to Taylor Swift’s “Blank Space”? If so, very clever.

Re: Show HN: ts-blank-space – fast TypeScript type-stripper

#5

Post by aclaymore » Fri, Sep 20, 2024, 4:28 PM UTC

matt-attack wrote: post #3

aclaymore wrote: post #2

Hi, I'm the author of ts-blank-space and happy to answer any questions you have :wave:

So is the idea that you would run a normal compiler once in your production pipeline to check syntax, and then re-run it with ts-blank-space to generate the final bundle? Clearly you can’t eliminate the syntax checking correct?

Yes and the TypeScript ASTs generated while checking the code can be re-used when then running ts-blank-space to generate the JavaScript. Only generating the ASTs once is a significant performance win as this work takes much longer than the type-stripping work.