JavaScript vs CoffeeScript vs TypeScript

1. JavaScript
2. CoffeeScript
3. TypeScript
4. CoffeeScript or TypeScript
5. Summary

JavaScript

 JavaScript is a dynamic, advanced level interpreted programming language. It is one of the three core technologies of the World Wide Web alongside HTML and CSS. The majority of websites employ it and it is supported by all modern Web browsers.

JavaScript is prototype-based with first-class functions, making it a multi-purpose tool, supporting functional and object-oriented programming styles. It includes an API for working with arrays, expressions and texts, but does not have any I/O support, like storage, media, networking and graphics facilities. For these, it has to rely on the host environment but there are frameworks like Node.js to leverage all advantage of javascript.

JavaScript is also used in applications that are not entirely web-based, like desktop widgets, website-specific browsers, and PDF documents. It also plays an important part in game development, desktop/mobile applications, and server-side network programming.

JavaScript development has got even better with the advent of various new frameworks. For server-side web development, one can use a multitude of languages and frameworks, but for client-side programming, JavaScript is the sole option as it is supported by all browsers.

To overcome this problem, newer languages were developed that can compile down to JavaScript. These new languages offer new concepts and improved syntax while hiding the complex bits of JavaScript. They can offer good ways to write and manage large code, while automatically generating more ‘correct’ JavaScript as an alternative.

Why Javascript is so popular on the server-side too? Because, thanks to Google, it can be run by an ultrafast ES6 compiler that provides high speed comparing to other interpreted languages like Ruby, Python.

Advantages of Javascript

• JavaScript is comparatively easy to learn and execute. Being client-side decreases the request on the main website server.
• JavaScript is applied everywhere on the internet. The sources to study JavaScript are diverse. Various repositories have several projects that are utilizing Javascript and obtained a lot of flexibility in the business in recent years particularly.
• JavaScript works accurately with other programming languages and can be applied in a tremendous diversity of applications. Unlike other scripting languages like PHP, JavaScript can be embedded into any web page despite the file extension.

Disadvantages of Javascript

• The client-side security sometimes too difficult to manage in Javascript. Because the code runs on the users’ machine, in some instances it can be misused for malicious intentions. This is one end some people prefer to incapacitate Javascript.
• JavaScript is seldom defined separately by various browsers. Whereas server-side codes will invariably provide the identical output, client-side codes can be a little irregular. 

CoffeeScript

CoffeeScript is one of these languages and a popular one. Its syntax is kind of similar to JavaScript but has a lot of changes for the sake of cleaner, more concise code. It’s comparatively easy to read and becomes more easy to learn after some good effort.

Coffeescript is a clean little language type that nicely compiles into JavaScript. Underneath those lame complex ‘braces and semicolons’ composed structure, JavaScript has always had a classic object model at its heart. Coffeescript is an attempt to expose the good and bad parts of JavaScript in a simple easier way.

The classic rule of Coffeescript is: ‘It’s just a plain JavaScript’. The Coffeescript code compiles one by one into the equivalent JavaScript, and there is no interpretation at the runtime. The final compiled output is readable and nicely printed, passes through JavaScript without warnings, will work in every other JavaScript application or usage, and aims to run as fast or much faster than the plain equivalent handwritten JavaScript.

Aside from syntax, there are also some other features and improvisations in the Coffeescript. Like variable scoping is improved, there’s no need to actually declare variables, just use desired variables and they are declared for you in the output. 

Advantages of Coffeescript

• Coffeescript code is about 55% less than the Javascript for the equivalent functionality. That’s fewer cases programmers have to type and verify.
• Coffeescript employs more limited syntax and hence is arguably simpler to manage in a big project. It also allows more syntax measures and thus various programmers on the same project design their code much more similar.

Disadvantages of Coffeescript

• While you master the functions of CoffeeScript rather quickly, there are a lot of deceived time sinks compared to JavaScript such as sometimes it is difficult to compile.
• CoffeeScript has become very successful in a small amount of time, but it’s doubtful that it’ll ever have as large society as JavaScript.
• The syntax mistakes the CoffeeScript compiler gives are often problematic. 
• Some of the section logic doesn’t quite work as required, you have to study the underlying javascript code to understand the completely mysterious code.

TypeScript

Typescript is a newer contender, developed by Microsoft and made to have first-class citizen support in Visual Studio including Intelligence and on-the-fly compiler errors. TypeScript differs from Coffeescript in a way that it’s just a complete superset of JavaScript. All JavaScript code is a totally valid TypeScript code.

TypeScript provides a lot of help for generating better JavaScript, such as a natural syntax for defining classes. TypeScript has one major benefit which is the optional support for static type checking, which makes it a lot easier to interface with the external JavaScript libraries either without type checking or with a typed interface definition that you create.

TypeScript integrates well with all the existing JavaScript code and it’s easy to understand even if u know a little bit of JavaScript and C. Another point why to choose TypeScript is that someday today’s TypeScript will be standard JavaScript and therefore run in the browser.

TypeScript allows you to create today’s web applications with language features of tomorrow. TypeScript is the only one that is a very strict superset of JavaScript.  This means that any type of valid JavaScript code is also good for TypeScript, and surely compatible with existing libraries without any problem.

This nice compatibility, however, has some issues as well.  As a superset, TypeScript cannot make up for any of the JavaScript’s ugly complex sides.  So, all the pitfalls of the JavaScript are there lurking, waiting for you to make a mistake. In the TypeScript, the static typing and Visual Studio plugins do a lot to alleviate these problems, though.

TypeScript usually supports all the definition files that contain method information of existing JavaScript libraries, much like C/C++ header files that explain the structures of previous object files. This enables other programs to use all the values defined in the files as if they were TypeScript entities which are statically typed.

TypeScript is obviously a forward step at what JavaScript may be in a few years’ time.  The addition of, classes, modules, a type system and an IDE that takes full use of these features makes it a very tempting choice over plain JavaScript.

Overall, TypeScript is relatively much closer to JavaScript than Coffeescript, making it easier to learn as well as the generated output is closer to the input in its case.

Advantages of TypeScript

• The main advantage of Typescript is that it gives the facility to combine static types to the Javascript. 
• Typescript combines the traditional with the new in the most reliable way possible. You can apply more extra features from ES6, ES7, and the compiler will transform them into ES5.
• It is easier than Javascript.

Disadvantages of TypeScript

• TypeScript works type checks only through compilation. Ultimately, you are trading with simple JavaScript that doesn’t make that. This suggests you may still find some flaws that the compiler didn’t get.
• The most prominent disadvantage of TypeScript is that it can give you a fake sense of security.

It comes with a complicated typing system.

CoffeeScript or TypeScript?

There’s a good case for both of them, and if someone didn’t mind the odd maintenance and mental torture, he could actually use both of them on the same project. Since both compile to JavaScript, one can easily use any code written in the other language.

Following are some recommendations:

1. For static type checking and a good toolchain support on Visual Studio, TypeScript is the option.
2. For a quick and short learning curve from JavaScript or a need to add legacy code (which isn’t common since it can easily be used as old JavaScript without modification), choose TypeScript.
3. If someone wants a more concise, cleaner code and lots of syntactic sugar, choose Coffeescript.
4. If coming from Ruby or Python, Coffeescript is likely to be a good option, as it’s a closer mental match.

Summary

Coffeescript:

• Small, clear language with lots of code examples.
• Effective after learning the basics.
• Good working tools provided.

TypeScript:

• Developed by Microsoft (yes, some developers may consider this as a disadvantage)
• Each part of JavaScript code is valid TypeScript and therefore it integrates much better than the other languages.
• Compatible with next-gen JavaScript standards.
• Compiled JavaScript runs on server (node.js).
• Similar syntax as in C/C++.

When JavaScript was formed then JavaScript community launched JavaScript as client-side programming language. But when coders were applying JavaScript then developers found that JavaScript can be applied as a server-side script also. 

But When JavaScript was developing then the code of JavaScript turned difficult and complicated. Due to this, JavaScript was even not capable to complete the condition of Object-oriented language. This restricts JavaScript from working at the company level as a server-side tool. Then TypeScript was produced by the community to fill this gap.

   

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