Typed JavaScript? For real? The “type annotations” proposal and what it’s all about
summary
A TC39 Stage 1 proposal reserves explicit syntax spots so type annotations become legal JS, with the key claim that types are ignored at runtime (runtime treats them like comments) while third‑party checkers consume them; parsing uses balanced delimiters to skip annotations, and GitHub stats showing heavy TypeScript usage motivate the change. The talk lists concrete tradeoffs (tooling simplification, payload and beginner concerns), open problems (imports, overloads, enums excluded) and community pushback.
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chapters (16)
- 0:00Start
- 0:40What Are the Three Biggest Trends in Javascript for the Last 10 Years
- 0:53Three Biggest Trends in Javascript Development
- 1:22Proposal for Enhancing Javascript
- 3:59What Is Tc39
- 8:28The Type Annotation Syntax Space
- 9:37Why Add Type Annotations if They'Re Going To Be Ignored
- 10:02Summary
- 13:12State of Javascript Static Typing in 2020
- 13:47Why Not To Add Types to Javascript
- 14:07Types Are Difficult for Beginners To Grasp
- 21:08Why Not Fully Embrace Type Syntax
- 22:13Why Not Build a Type System
- 25:04How Does Javascript Know To Ignore the Types
- 27:01Generics
- 28:33Function Overloads
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