“In one paragraph or less” – why I chose JavaScript over TypeScript
My idea with this article is to try to summarize and share “in one paragraph or less” the main reason why, as a CTO, I chose one technology over another. We take everything into account, infrastructure, team, business requirements, and many others, which could be quite complex, but can we share the essence.
In one paragraph or less
“I chose vanilla JavaScript compiled with Google Closure Compiler and not TypeScript because I was building an extensible plugin based framework and I wanted to allow each and every plugin developer to be free to choose vanilla JavaScript or TypeScript for their plugins. I did not want to limit anyone’s future choices.”
The pre-story (if you are interested)
A few days ago I called an old friend. We’ve been acting like CTOs of two companies for a couple of years (I was more acting, he was doing like the real deal). But we haven’t talked in a while. The conversation went pretty fast from “How are things at work and at home?” to “Why did you choose this technology over that technology?”
He: – We made some interesting things on the technology front.
Me: – Really? What?
He: – We went for the React, TypeScript path and did…
Me: – When I had to make this decision I stayed on the Rails, Stimulus with vanilla JS path.
He: – You know, if it wasn’t for this and that, I would have done as you did. But you should definitely check GraphQL in more detail.
Me: – Oh, I have and …
This conversation went on for some time.
I had a very similar conversions about an year ago with another CTO friend that said:
I chose “technology X” instead of “technology Y” to keep some sanity in our team.
So we make these decisions, but can we communicate them?
Reply
You must be logged in to post a comment.