Hey... You Got Static Types in My JavaScript!
Regular Session
As JavaScript applications continue to grow in size and complexity, the teams that develop and support them often find themselves looking for ways to help increase productivity and reduce errors. A well-known practice for reducing coding errors is to employ unit testing. A more recent approach is to add static typing to JavaScript by utilizing technologies like Microsoft's TypeScript or Facebook's Flow.
Adding static types to JavaScript helps developers to detect errors in their code at design time, without having to execute their code. Static typing dramatically improves the overall development experience by adding support for symbol-based navigation, statement completion, and code refactoring.
In this talk, we'll walk through a series of demos showcasing how TypeScript and Flow bring static typing to JavaScript. We'll look at how they are similar, how they differ, how they can help you write better code, and how they won't. By the end of this talk, you'll be on your way to answering the question "are static types a good fit for my JavaScript project?"
Topics include:
Comparing static and dynamic typing
Reviewing the benefits and disadvantages of static dynamic
Leveraging TypeScript and Flow in your projects
Comparing TypeScript and Flow
Prerequisites
Familiarity with JavaScript