ER: Investigate use of TypeScript

[roslynwythe]

Dependencies

• homepage launch
• research team doing research on usage of js vs typescript in cs grads and bootcamps

Emergent Requirement - Problem

We should explore the possibility of converting our JavaScript code to TypeScript

• TypeScript is a strict syntactical superset of JavaScript and adds optional static typing and class-based object-oriented programming features to the language.
• TypeScript allows developers to write more maintainable and scalable code by catching type-related errors at compile-time instead of runtime
• It also provides better IDE support, code completion, and refactoring tools, making development more efficient.

Issue you discovered this emergent requirement in

Date discovered

Did you have to do something temporarily

• YES
• NO

Who was involved

@roslynwythe

What happens if this is not addressed

We won't benefit from the code quality and development improvements offered by TypeScript and won't gain experience with the language, which continues to gain adoption.

Resources

typescriptlang.org
TypeScript adoption trend

Recommended Action Items

• Make a new issue
• Discuss with team
• Let a Team Lead know

Potential solutions [draft]

Items to consider in the analysis:

• impact on folder structure
• impact on build (GitHub and Docker)
• impact on VS Code configuration
• frontend code vs. backend code (used in the context of GHA)

[tony1ee]

If we do decide to change to TypeScript, it's a good time to also Adopting a coding style standard/guideline #6807

[ExperimentsInHonesty]

@roslynwythe @tony1ee I have added this to our next dev/pm agenda.

[ExperimentsInHonesty]

Moving to icebox and adding dependencies