A 10x Faster TypeScript • Hacker News Board

Re: A 10x Faster TypeScript

#731

Post by aib » Wed, Mar 12, 2025, 6:56 AM UTC

Just tried it on our codebase. Getting over a thousand errors, a good portion of which seem to be:

    ../../../tmp/typescript-go/built/local/lib.dom.d.ts:27982:6 - error TS2300: Duplicate identifier 'KeyType'.
    27982 type KeyType = "private" | "public" | "secret";
               ~~~~~~~

      ../../../tmp/typescript-go/built/local/lib.webworker.d.ts:9370:6 - 'KeyType' was also declared here.
        9370 type KeyType = "private" | "public" | "secret";
                  ~~~~~~~

Probably an easy fix.

Running it in another portion results in SIGSEGV with a bad/nil pointer defererence, which puts me in the camp of people questioning the choice of Go.

Re: A 10x Faster TypeScript

#732

Post by zeroc8 » Wed, Mar 12, 2025, 6:59 AM UTC

bdangubic wrote: post #485

jay_kyburz wrote: post #480

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's a bad look for both C# and TypeScript. Anybody starting a new code base now would be looking for ways to avoid both and jump right to Go.

if I had to use Go I’d change my career and go do some gardening :)

I like Anders'answer there. "But you can achieve pretty great things with it".

Re: A 10x Faster TypeScript

#733

Post by guappa » Wed, Mar 12, 2025, 7:03 AM UTC

register wrote: post #227

Starlord2048 wrote: post #211

[flagged]

I don't see why Go deployment model is superior to C#. You can easily build native binaries in C# as well nowadays.

Come on… 1 statically linked executable and it can cross build incredibly easily. There's no comparison even.

Re: A 10x Faster TypeScript

#734

Post by WD-42 » Wed, Mar 12, 2025, 7:03 AM UTC

debugnik wrote: post #723

WD-42 wrote: post #692

Earlier quoted context omitted.

[flagged]

Microsoft's implementation has been cross platform for almost a decade now. You're way too late to the Mono FUD party.

Almost a decade? Amazing. Considering go has been cross platform since its inception almost twice as long as that, rust too, it’s no wonder developer mindshare is elsewhere.

Re: A 10x Faster TypeScript

#735

Post by cxr » Wed, Mar 12, 2025, 7:06 AM UTC

jodrellblank wrote: post #615

uticus wrote: post #453

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yes, but C# is the Microsoft language, and I would say TypeScript is 2nd place Microsoft language (sorry F# folks - in terms of popularity not objective greatness of course). So it's not just that the lead architect of C# is involved in the TypeScript changes. It's also that this is under the same roof and the same sign hangs on the building outside for both languages. If Ford made a car and powered it with a Chevy e…

> " So it's not just that the lead architect of C# is involved in the TypeScript changes. " Anders Hejlsberg hasn't been the lead architect of C# for like 13 years. Mads Torgersen is: https://dotnetcore.show/episode-104-c-sharp-with-mads-torger... - " I got hired by Microsoft 17 years ago to help work on C#. First, I worked with Anders Hejlsberg, who’s sort of the legendary creator and first lead designer of C#. And…

> "why aren't you using YOUR LANGUAGE, huh? What's the matter, you don't like YOUR LANGUAGE?" is pushy and weird

It's also not what anyone said.

> It's best not to use quotation marks to make it look like you're quoting someone when you're not. https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=21643562>

Re: A 10x Faster TypeScript

#736

Post by yohannesk » Wed, Mar 12, 2025, 7:08 AM UTC

aib wrote: post #731

Just tried it on our codebase. Getting over a thousand errors, a good portion of which seem to be: ../../../tmp/typescript-go/built/local/lib.dom.d.ts:27982:6 - error TS2300: Duplicate identifier 'KeyType'. 27982 type KeyType = "private" | "public" | "secret"; ~~~~~~~ ../../../tmp/typescript-go/built/local/lib.webworker.d.ts:9370:6 - 'KeyType' was also declared here. 9370 type KeyType = "private" | "public" | "secret…

If you are wondering why not Rust instead of Go, they outline why Rust was not chosen. This is a port not a reimplementation. Many of the data structures can not easily be ported to Rust, such as Nodes with cyclic dependencies. Check the longer interview here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=10qowKUW82U&ab_channel=Michi... Also, I think the discussion on esbuild's choice of language applies here as well as it has a large similarity. You can find it here on hn

Re: A 10x Faster TypeScript

#737

Post by anon7000 » Wed, Mar 12, 2025, 7:09 AM UTC

colonelspace wrote: post #270

sapiogram wrote: post #239

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> I mean, I can't think of a time a high profile project written in a lower level representation got ported to a higher level language. Software never gets rewritten in a higher level language, but software is constantly replaced by alternatives. First example that comes to mind is Discord, an Electron app that immediately and permanently killed every other voice client on the market when it launched.

> Discord ... immediately and permanently killed every other voice client on the market Do you mean voice clients like FaceTime, Zoom, Teams, and Slack?

Well, voice clients on PC for casual gamer use :p

Re: A 10x Faster TypeScript

#738

Post by zeroc8 » Wed, Mar 12, 2025, 7:10 AM UTC

fabian2k wrote: post #94

DanRosenwasser wrote: post #59

Earlier quoted context omitted.

We did anticipate this question, and we have actually written up an FAQ entry on our GitHub Discussions. I'll post the response below. https://github.com/microsoft/typescript-go/discussions/411 . ____ Language choice is always a hot topic! We extensively evaluated many language options, both recently and in prior investigations. We also considered hybrid approaches where certain components could be written in a nativ…

I find the discussion about the choice quite interesting, and many points are very convincing (like the GC one). But I am a bit confused about the comparison between Go and C#. Both should meet most of the criteria like GC, control over memory layout/allocation and good support for concurrency. I'm curious what the weaknesses of C# for this particular use case were that lead to the decision for Go.

Anders is answering this in the Video. Go is the lower level and also closer to Javascript's programming style. They didn't want to fully object oriented for this project.

Re: A 10x Faster TypeScript

#739

Post by sethaurus » Wed, Mar 12, 2025, 7:11 AM UTC

Yoric wrote: post #296

pjmlp wrote: post #263

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Back in my day, writing compilers was part of systems programming.

Yeah, the term has changed meaning several times. Early on, "systems programmer" meant basically what we call a "developer" now (by opposition to a programmer or a researcher).

At that time, what would have been the distinction between "programmer" and "developer"?

Re: A 10x Faster TypeScript

#740

Post by WD-42 » Wed, Mar 12, 2025, 7:13 AM UTC

cyral wrote: post #470

naasking wrote: post #360

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> And C# is not considered a high quality runtime once you leave Windows. By who?

Usually by someone who hasn't used C# since 2015 (when this opinion was fairly valid)

It’s always the same response, c# was crappy but it’s not crappy anymore. Well guess what, Go has been not crappy for a lot longer than C# has been not crappy, maybe that’s part of the reason people like it more.