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  5. Swift vs TypeScript

Swift vs TypeScript

OverviewDecisionsComparisonAlternatives

Overview

Swift
Swift
Stacks21.9K
Followers13.6K
Votes1.3K
TypeScript
TypeScript
Stacks105.1K
Followers74.2K
Votes503
GitHub Stars106.6K
Forks13.1K

Swift vs TypeScript: What are the differences?

Introduction

Swift and TypeScript are both popular programming languages, but they have some key differences that distinguish them from each other. Here are the top six differences between Swift and TypeScript:

  1. Static vs Dynamic Typing: Swift is a statically typed language, which means that variable types are checked at compile time. On the other hand, TypeScript is a typed superset of JavaScript that adds static typing to JavaScript. This means that TypeScript allows for dynamic typing, where variables can have different types at runtime.

  2. Platform Compatibility: Swift was initially developed by Apple for iOS, macOS, watchOS, and tvOS development. It is mainly used for developing applications for Apple devices. On the other hand, TypeScript can be used for both front-end and back-end development and is not limited to a specific platform. It is widely used in web development and can run on any platform that supports JavaScript.

  3. Language Features: Swift is a relatively new language and has been designed with modern programming features in mind. It has many advanced features like optionals, generics, type inference, and pattern matching. TypeScript, on the other hand, is based on JavaScript and aims to enhance JavaScript's capabilities by adding features like static types, classes, and interfaces.

  4. Compilation: Swift code is compiled to machine code, which makes it faster compared to languages that are interpreted or run on a virtual machine. TypeScript, on the other hand, is transpiled to JavaScript. This means that TypeScript code is written in TypeScript syntax but ultimately gets converted to JavaScript, which can then be executed by browsers or other JavaScript engines.

  5. Community and Ecosystem: Swift has a growing community but is more limited in terms of libraries and frameworks compared to JavaScript and TypeScript. JavaScript, being one of the most widely used programming languages, has a vast ecosystem with numerous libraries and frameworks available for different purposes. This makes TypeScript a more suitable choice for web development, as it can leverage the existing JavaScript ecosystem.

  6. Tooling and IDE support: Swift has excellent tooling support, thanks to Xcode, which is the official IDE for Swift development. Xcode provides extensive features like debugging, code completion, refactoring, and interface builder for building user interfaces. TypeScript, on the other hand, can be used with various popular IDEs like Visual Studio Code, WebStorm, and Atom, which provide similar features and support for TypeScript development.

In summary, Swift is a statically-typed language primarily used for developing applications for Apple devices, while TypeScript is a typed superset of JavaScript that can be used for web development on any platform. Swift is compiled to machine code and has a growing community but a more limited ecosystem, while TypeScript is transpiled to JavaScript and benefits from the vast JavaScript ecosystem. Both languages have excellent tooling support but use different development environments.

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Advice on Swift, TypeScript

Peter
Peter

May 17, 2019

ReviewonTypeScriptTypeScript

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
Jarvis

May 16, 2019

ReviewonTypeScriptTypeScriptFlow (JS)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
David

VP Engineering at Trolley

May 16, 2019

ReviewonJavaScriptJavaScriptFlow (JS)Flow (JS)TypeScriptTypeScript

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

Swift
Swift
TypeScript
TypeScript

Writing code is interactive and fun, the syntax is concise yet expressive, and apps run lightning-fast. Swift is ready for your next iOS and OS X project — or for addition into your current app — because Swift code works side-by-side with Objective-C.

TypeScript is a language for application-scale JavaScript development. It's a typed superset of JavaScript that compiles to plain JavaScript.

Statistics
GitHub Stars
-
GitHub Stars
106.6K
GitHub Forks
-
GitHub Forks
13.1K
Stacks
21.9K
Stacks
105.1K
Followers
13.6K
Followers
74.2K
Votes
1.3K
Votes
503
Pros & Cons
Pros
  • 259
    Ios
  • 180
    Elegant
  • 126
    Not Objective-C
  • 107
    Backed by apple
  • 93
    Type inference
Cons
  • 6
    Must own a mac
  • 2
    Memory leaks are not uncommon
  • 1
    Its classes compile to roughly 300 lines of assembly
  • 1
    Complicated process for exporting modules
  • 1
    Is a lot more effort than lua to make simple functions
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
Integrations
Cocoa Touch (iOS)
Cocoa Touch (iOS)
No integrations available

What are some alternatives to Swift, TypeScript?

JavaScript

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

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

PHP

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

Ruby

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

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

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

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#

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

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

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.

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