TypeScript vs JavaScript: Which One is Best?

In today’s web development world, JavaScript vs TypeScript is a burning question. Both are popular programming languages that are used for creating websites. JavaScript is the backbone of web development and has been used by beginners and experienced developers for many years. TypeScript is a newer language developed by Microsoft. It is built on top of JavaScript and has amazing features that help developers write clean and secure code. In this blog, you will learn all about the difference between JavaScript and TypeScript​ with their features, advantages over each other, and most importantly, when to use TypeScript vs JavaScript.

Table of Contents:

• What is JavaScript?
• What is TypeScript?
• TypeScript vs JavaScript
• When to Use JavaScript?
• When to Use TypeScript?
• Advantages and Disadvantages of Using TypeScript vs JavaScript
• Real-World Adoption and Trends

What is JavaScript?

JavaScript is defined as the programming language that is used to create interactive websites. It is one of the core technologies of web development and allows you to do things like clicking on buttons, filling forms, creating pop-up messages over the website, and loading new content without refreshing the page.

Features of JavaScript

JavaScript is important for beginners who have just started learning web development because it has multiple important features. Let’s discuss all the features one by one in detail:

1. Lightweight and Fast: It is a lightweight language, which means JavaScript code does not take a large amount of space in memory and directly executes in the web browser.
2. Runs in the Browser: It is one of the important features of JavaScript that it executes directly on the web browser, such as Chrome, Firefox, and Safari.
3. Versatile Use: Initially, it was only created for doing front-end web development. But now, it serves multiple purposes. It is used in writing the backend logic and also for creating desktop applications.
4. Dynamic Typing: In JavaScript, you do not need to declare a variable type (like number or float). This allows you to write code quickly.
5. Object Oriented and Functional: JavaScript supports both object-oriented programming and functional programming, which means it works with objects and classes, or also uses functions to build logic.

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What is TypeScript?

TypeScript is defined as a programming language that is built on top of JavaScript. In other words, TypeScript is a superset of JavaScript, but with extra features like type checking, which means it can help you find mistakes in your code. TypeScript is created by Microsoft and mainly used for building large-scale websites.

Features of TypeScript

TypeScript is built on top of JavaScript and offers some more features to use in building web development projects. Here are some important features of TypeScript:

1. Static Type Checking: TypeScript checks your code while you are writing it and points out mistakes in the code at the same time.
2. Type Annotations: You can tell TypeScript what kind of data a variable should hold. In other words, TypeScript allows you to define the data type of the variable.
3. Object-Oriented Programming: TypeScript also supports objects, classes, interfaces, and other object-oriented programming concepts.
4. Compiles to JavaScript: TypeScript code does not directly run on the browser, it first goes to the TypeScript compiler, this compiler converts the TypeScript code into regular JavaScript.
5. Strong Community: TypeScript is created by Microsoft and used by most developers around the world. So, it has strong community support for beginners who have just started learning TypeScript.

TypeScript vs JavaScript

A simple difference between JavaScript and TypeScript​ is that JavaScript is a popular programming language used for writing frontend and backend code, while TypeScript is built on top of JavaScript and has more features than JavaScript.

Here are the important differences between TypeScript and JavaScript:

When to Use JavaScript?

JavaScript is a dynamic programming language that is used for multiple purposes. Here are some scenarios where JavaScript is used:

1. JavaScript is used for creating interactive websites, which means JavaScript allows you to create buttons that do something when clicked, dropdown menus, sliders, and animations.
2. It is used for validating form data on websites. Validating data means checking whether the input data is correct or not.
3. JavaScript is used to fetch and display data without refreshing or reloading the page. This is called the AJAX (Asynchronous JavaScript and XML).
4. It is used for creating websites and mobile applications by using frameworks like React Native or Electron.js.
5. You can create simple browser-based games, and also create visual effects and animations by using JavaScript.

When to Use TypeScript?

You should use TypeScript for writing secure and efficient code. Here are some scenarios where TypeScript is used:

1. As your project grows, the number of files also increases. TypeScript helps you manage a large codebase and work on large projects.
2. It allows you to work in collaborative environments. TypeScript helps everyone to stay on the same page by ensuring that data types are correct.
3. It helps in catching mistakes while writing code, which means TypeScript tells the developer where they have made a mistake in the code.
4. TypeScript helps in building scalable applications, which means you can add more and more features easily over time in your application.

Advantages and Disadvantages of Using TypeScript vs JavaScript

Both TypeScript and JavaScript have their own pros and cons. Knowing them can help you choose the right language for your project.

Real-World Adoption and Trends

JetBrains Developer Ecosystem Report 2024: TypeScript topped the new “Language Promise Index,” indicating strong future growth and developer interest.

Stack Overflow Developer Survey 2025: JavaScript continues to be the most popular programming language among developers.

GitHub Octoverse 2024: JavaScript is the second most popular language on GitHub, followed by TypeScript, reflecting its growing adoption in the developer community.

Conclusion

So, we have come to the end of the TypeScript vs JavaScript blog. Both JavaScript and TypeScript are important for building websites and web applications. JavaScript is the most popular programming language for writing frontend and backend code. JavaScript is mostly used for making both small and large-scale projects. On the other hand, TypeScript offers you more features as compared to JavaScript and is used for building large-scale applications. Understanding the difference between TypeScript and JavaScript helps you to choose the right language to learn.

TypeScript vs JavaScript – FAQs