Getting Started with TypeScript

Getting Started with TypeScript

TypeScript is a typed superset of JavaScript that compiles to plain JavaScript. It offers support for the latest and evolving JavaScript features, including those from ECMAScript 2015 like classes and modules. Many popular libraries, such as Angular and React, are written in TypeScript.

If you’re just starting out with TypeScript, this guide will help you get up and running quickly. We’ll go over how to install TypeScript, create a TypeScript project, and how to write a simple TypeScript program.

Installing TypeScript

The first step is to install TypeScript on your computer. The easiest way to do this is by using npm, the package manager for JavaScript. Open up your terminal or command prompt and type:

npm install -g typescript

This will install TypeScript globally on your machine. Once it’s finished, you should be able to type tsc --version into the terminal to verify that TypeScript was installed successfully.

Creating a TypeScript Project

Now that TypeScript is installed, let’s create a TypeScript project. Create a new folder, and inside of that folder, create a file called index.ts. This will be the file where you write your TypeScript code.

Writing Your First TypeScript Program

Now that your project is set up, it’s time to write your first TypeScript program. Open up index.ts and add the following code:

let message: string = "Hello World!";
console.log(message);

This code creates a variable called message, assigns it the value "Hello World!" and then prints it to the console. Now that you’ve written your program, the next step is to compile it.

Compiling Your TypeScript Program

Once your TypeScript program is written, the next step is to compile it. To do this, open up your terminal or command prompt and type the following command:

tsc index.ts

This will compile your code and produce an output file called index.js. This is the JavaScript code that is generated from your TypeScript program. Open up index.js and you’ll see the JavaScript code that was generated from your TypeScript program.

Congratulations! You’ve successfully written your first TypeScript program and compiled it into JavaScript.