Babel vs TypeScript

Overview

TypeScript

Stacks105.1K

Followers74.2K

Votes503

GitHub Stars106.6K

Forks13.1K

Babel

Stacks27.3K

Followers11.0K

Votes391

GitHub Stars43.8K

Forks5.8K

Babel vs TypeScript: What are the differences?

Compilation: Babel is a JavaScript compiler that mainly focuses on converting ECMAScript 2015+ code into a backwards-compatible version of JavaScript for older environments. TypeScript, on the other hand, is a superset of JavaScript that adds static typing to the language.
Type Checking: TypeScript offers static type checking which helps catch errors at compile time, making it easier to spot and fix issues before runtime. Babel does not perform type checking as it primarily focuses on converting code from one version of JavaScript to another.
Tooling: TypeScript comes with its own compiler which not only transpiles code but also provides rich language services like code completion, refactoring, and navigation tooling. Babel, however, is more modular and requires additional plugins to achieve similar functionality.
Code Maintainability: TypeScript's static typing allows for better code organization, readability, and maintainability especially in large codebases. Babel, although useful for ensuring compatibility across different browsers, does not offer the same level of support for code organization.
EcmaScript standard compliance: TypeScript is constantly updated to align with the latest ECMAScript standards, providing access to the newest features and syntax enhancements. Babel can also support newer JavaScript features through plugins, but it may not always immediately support the latest standards out of the box.

Summary, Babel and TypeScript differ significantly in their approach to JavaScript compilation, type checking, tooling, code maintainability, and ECMAScript standard compliance.

Share your Stack

Help developers discover the tools you use. Get visibility for your team's tech choices and contribute to the community's knowledge.

View Docs

CLI (Node.js)

Manual

Advice on TypeScript, Babel

Peter

May 17, 2019

Reviewon

TypeScript

I use TypeScript because:

incredible developer tooling and community support
actively developed and supported by Microsoft (yes, I like Microsoft) ;)
easier to make sense of a TS codebase because the annotations provide so much more context than plain JS
refactors become easier (VSCode has superb support for TS)

I've switched back and forth between TS and Flow and decided a year ago to abandon Flow completely in favor of TS. I don't want to bash Flow, however, my main grievances are very poor tooling (editor integration leaves much to be desired), a slower release cycle, and subpar docs and community support.

135k views135k

Comments

Jarvis

May 16, 2019

Reviewon

TypeScript

Flow (JS)

I use TypeScript because it isn't just about validating the types I'm expecting to receive though that is a huge part of it too. Flow (JS) seems to be a type system only. TypeScript also allows you to use the latest features of JavaScript while also providing the type checking. To be fair to Flow (JS), I have not used it, but likely wouldn't have due to the additional features I get from TypeScript.

168k views168k

Comments

David

VP Engineering at Trolley

May 16, 2019

Reviewon

JavaScript

Flow (JS)

TypeScript

We originally (in 2017) started rewriting our platform from JavaScript to Flow (JS) but found the library support for Flow was lacking. After switching gears to TypeScript we've never looked back. At this point we're finding that frontend and backend libraries are supporting TypeScript out of the box and where the support is missing that the commuity is typically got a solution in hand.

173k views173k

Comments

Detailed Comparison

TypeScript	Babel
TypeScript is a language for application-scale JavaScript development. It's a typed superset of JavaScript that compiles to plain JavaScript.	Babel will turn your ES6+ code into ES5 friendly code, so you can start using it right now without waiting for browser support.
-	Array comprehensions; Arrow functions; Async functions; Async generator functions; Classes; Class properties; Computed property names; Constants; Decorators; Default parameters; Destructuring; Exponentiation operator; For-of; Generators; Generator comprehensions; Let scoping; Modules; Module export extensions; Object rest/spread; Property method assignment; Property name shorthand; Rest parameters; React; Spread; Tail call optimisation; Template literals; Type annotations; Unicode regex; JSX; React; Flow; Node.js; Meteor; Rails; Broccoli; Browserify; Require.js; Brunch; Duo; Gobble; Grunt; Gulp; Make; Webpack; Connect; Jade; Jest; Karma; Mocha; Nodemon
Statistics
GitHub Stars 106.6K	GitHub Stars 43.8K
GitHub Forks 13.1K	GitHub Forks 5.8K
Stacks 105.1K	Stacks 27.3K
Followers 74.2K	Followers 11.0K
Votes 503	Votes 391
Pros & Cons
Pros 173 More intuitive and type safe javascript 105 Type safe 80 JavaScript superset 48 The best AltJS ever 27 Best AltJS for BackEnd Cons 5 Code may look heavy and confusing 4 Hype	Pros 165 Modern Javascript works with all browsers 77 Open source 60 Integration with lots of tools 56 Easy setup 26 Very active on github
Integrations
No integrations available	Grunt Broccoli Browserify Brunch Duo gulp RequireJS

What are some alternatives to TypeScript, Babel?

JavaScript

JavaScript is most known as the scripting language for Web pages, but used in many non-browser environments as well such as node.js or Apache CouchDB. It is a prototype-based, multi-paradigm scripting language that is dynamic,and supports object-oriented, imperative, and functional programming styles.

Python

Python is a general purpose programming language created by Guido Van Rossum. Python is most praised for its elegant syntax and readable code, if you are just beginning your programming career python suits you best.

PHP

Fast, flexible and pragmatic, PHP powers everything from your blog to the most popular websites in the world.

Ruby

Ruby is a language of careful balance. Its creator, Yukihiro “Matz” Matsumoto, blended parts of his favorite languages (Perl, Smalltalk, Eiffel, Ada, and Lisp) to form a new language that balanced functional programming with imperative programming.

Java

Java is a programming language and computing platform first released by Sun Microsystems in 1995. There are lots of applications and websites that will not work unless you have Java installed, and more are created every day. Java is fast, secure, and reliable. From laptops to datacenters, game consoles to scientific supercomputers, cell phones to the Internet, Java is everywhere!

Golang

Go is expressive, concise, clean, and efficient. Its concurrency mechanisms make it easy to write programs that get the most out of multicore and networked machines, while its novel type system enables flexible and modular program construction. Go compiles quickly to machine code yet has the convenience of garbage collection and the power of run-time reflection. It's a fast, statically typed, compiled language that feels like a dynamically typed, interpreted language.

HTML5

HTML5 is a core technology markup language of the Internet used for structuring and presenting content for the World Wide Web. As of October 2014 this is the final and complete fifth revision of the HTML standard of the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C). The previous version, HTML 4, was standardised in 1997.

C#

C# (pronounced "See Sharp") is a simple, modern, object-oriented, and type-safe programming language. C# has its roots in the C family of languages and will be immediately familiar to C, C++, Java, and JavaScript programmers.

Scala

Scala is an acronym for “Scalable Language”. This means that Scala grows with you. You can play with it by typing one-line expressions and observing the results. But you can also rely on it for large mission critical systems, as many companies, including Twitter, LinkedIn, or Intel do. To some, Scala feels like a scripting language. Its syntax is concise and low ceremony; its types get out of the way because the compiler can infer them.

Elixir

Elixir leverages the Erlang VM, known for running low-latency, distributed and fault-tolerant systems, while also being successfully used in web development and the embedded software domain.

Related Comparisons

Babel vs TypeScript: What are the differences?

Compilation: Babel is a JavaScript compiler that mainly focuses on converting ECMAScript 2015+ code into a backwards-compatible version of JavaScript for older environments. TypeScript, on the other hand, is a superset of JavaScript that adds static typing to the language.
Type Checking: TypeScript offers static type checking which helps catch errors at compile time, making it easier to spot and fix issues before runtime. Babel does not perform type checking as it primarily focuses on converting code from one version of JavaScript to another.
Tooling: TypeScript comes with its own compiler which not only transpiles code but also provides rich language services like code completion, refactoring, and navigation tooling. Babel, however, is more modular and requires additional plugins to achieve similar functionality.
Code Maintainability: TypeScript's static typing allows for better code organization, readability, and maintainability especially in large codebases. Babel, although useful for ensuring compatibility across different browsers, does not offer the same level of support for code organization.
EcmaScript standard compliance: TypeScript is constantly updated to align with the latest ECMAScript standards, providing access to the newest features and syntax enhancements. Babel can also support newer JavaScript features through plugins, but it may not always immediately support the latest standards out of the box.

Summary, Babel and TypeScript differ significantly in their approach to JavaScript compilation, type checking, tooling, code maintainability, and ECMAScript standard compliance.

Babel vs TypeScript

Overview