NativeScript vs TypeScript

Overview

TypeScript

Stacks105.1K

Followers74.2K

Votes503

GitHub Stars106.6K

Forks13.1K

NativeScript

Stacks533

Followers1.1K

Votes516

GitHub Stars25.3K

Forks1.7K

NativeScript vs TypeScript: What are the differences?

Introduction

In this article, we will compare NativeScript and TypeScript, two popular technologies used in web development. We will highlight the key differences between these two technologies to help you better understand their uses and benefits.

Compilation Process: One major difference between NativeScript and TypeScript is their compilation process. NativeScript uses a just-in-time (JIT) compilation process, which means that the code is compiled at runtime during the execution of the application. On the other hand, TypeScript uses an ahead-of-time (AOT) compilation process, where the code is compiled ahead of time before the application is executed. This difference in compilation processes affects the performance and startup time of the application.
Target Platforms: NativeScript is primarily used for developing cross-platform mobile applications. It allows developers to write code once and deploy it on multiple platforms, such as iOS and Android. On the other hand, TypeScript is a superset of JavaScript and is mainly used for developing web applications. It is not limited to any specific platform and can be executed on any JavaScript runtime environment.
Language Features: TypeScript is a language that adds static typing to JavaScript, providing developers with features such as static type checking, interfaces, and classes. It adds a level of robustness and maintainability to JavaScript code. NativeScript, on the other hand, is a framework that allows developers to build native mobile applications using JavaScript or TypeScript. While NativeScript also supports type checking and classes, it provides additional features specific to mobile application development, such as access to native APIs and UI components.
Development Workflow: NativeScript allows developers to use their existing web development skills, such as HTML, CSS, and JavaScript, to build mobile applications. It provides a familiar development workflow for web developers who want to transition to mobile development. TypeScript, on the other hand, requires developers to learn a new language with additional syntax and concepts. It may have a steeper learning curve for developers who are not familiar with static typing.
Community and Ecosystem: NativeScript has a growing community of developers who actively contribute to its ecosystem by developing plugins, themes, and other resources. It has a rich ecosystem with a wide range of third-party libraries and tools that can be used to extend the functionality of NativeScript applications. TypeScript also has a strong community and a rich ecosystem, with a large number of libraries and tools available for web development.
Debugging and Testing: Debugging and testing in NativeScript can be done using familiar web development tools, such as Chrome DevTools. Developers can inspect and debug their NativeScript applications using the Chrome DevTools interface. TypeScript, being a superset of JavaScript, can be debugged using standard JavaScript debugging tools. It also has robust testing frameworks available for writing and running tests.

In Summary, NativeScript and TypeScript have key differences in their compilation process, target platforms, language features, development workflow, community and ecosystem, as well as debugging and testing capabilities. These differences make them suitable for different use cases, with NativeScript being specifically designed for mobile application development and TypeScript being more focused on web application development.

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Advice on TypeScript, NativeScript

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	NativeScript
TypeScript is a language for application-scale JavaScript development. It's a typed superset of JavaScript that compiles to plain JavaScript.	NativeScript enables developers to build native apps for iOS, Android and Windows Universal while sharing the application code across the platforms. When building the application UI, developers use our libraries, which abstract the differences between the native platforms.
-	100% Access to Native Platform API;NativeScript is free of charge as an open source project;Code with JavaScript. Style with CSS;Cross-platform UI abstractions;Shared business logic and data models
Statistics
GitHub Stars 106.6K	GitHub Stars 25.3K
GitHub Forks 13.1K	GitHub Forks 1.7K
Stacks 105.1K	Stacks 533
Followers 74.2K	Followers 1.1K
Votes 503	Votes 516
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 75 Access to the entire native api 47 Support for native ios and android libraries 46 Angular 2.0 support 46 Support for javascript libraries 44 Native ux and performance Cons 5 Lack of promotion 1 Slower Performance compared to competitors

What are some alternatives to TypeScript, NativeScript?

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.

Ionic

Free and open source, Ionic offers a library of mobile and desktop-optimized HTML, CSS and JS components for building highly interactive apps. Use with Angular, React, Vue, or plain JavaScript.

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.

Related Comparisons

NativeScript vs TypeScript: What are the differences?

Introduction

Compilation Process: One major difference between NativeScript and TypeScript is their compilation process. NativeScript uses a just-in-time (JIT) compilation process, which means that the code is compiled at runtime during the execution of the application. On the other hand, TypeScript uses an ahead-of-time (AOT) compilation process, where the code is compiled ahead of time before the application is executed. This difference in compilation processes affects the performance and startup time of the application.
Target Platforms: NativeScript is primarily used for developing cross-platform mobile applications. It allows developers to write code once and deploy it on multiple platforms, such as iOS and Android. On the other hand, TypeScript is a superset of JavaScript and is mainly used for developing web applications. It is not limited to any specific platform and can be executed on any JavaScript runtime environment.
Language Features: TypeScript is a language that adds static typing to JavaScript, providing developers with features such as static type checking, interfaces, and classes. It adds a level of robustness and maintainability to JavaScript code. NativeScript, on the other hand, is a framework that allows developers to build native mobile applications using JavaScript or TypeScript. While NativeScript also supports type checking and classes, it provides additional features specific to mobile application development, such as access to native APIs and UI components.
Development Workflow: NativeScript allows developers to use their existing web development skills, such as HTML, CSS, and JavaScript, to build mobile applications. It provides a familiar development workflow for web developers who want to transition to mobile development. TypeScript, on the other hand, requires developers to learn a new language with additional syntax and concepts. It may have a steeper learning curve for developers who are not familiar with static typing.
Community and Ecosystem: NativeScript has a growing community of developers who actively contribute to its ecosystem by developing plugins, themes, and other resources. It has a rich ecosystem with a wide range of third-party libraries and tools that can be used to extend the functionality of NativeScript applications. TypeScript also has a strong community and a rich ecosystem, with a large number of libraries and tools available for web development.
Debugging and Testing: Debugging and testing in NativeScript can be done using familiar web development tools, such as Chrome DevTools. Developers can inspect and debug their NativeScript applications using the Chrome DevTools interface. TypeScript, being a superset of JavaScript, can be debugged using standard JavaScript debugging tools. It also has robust testing frameworks available for writing and running tests.

NativeScript vs TypeScript

Overview