Migrate to TypeScript

[ImBIOS]

⚬ PROBLEM:
The current project is written in JavaScript, which lacks strong typing. Which can often lead to runtime errors, make debugging harder, and reduce confidence when refactoring or adding new features. Collaboration also becomes more challenging without clear type definitions.

⚬ SOLUTION:
Migrate the codebase to TypeScript to introduce static typing, improve code quality, and enhance developer productivity. TypeScript provides better tooling support, type safety, and clearer documentation through type annotations.

⚬ ALTERNATIVES:

1. Use JSDoc to add type annotations to JavaScript, but it lacks the full capabilities of TypeScript.
2. Incrementally adopt TypeScript by converting only critical parts of the codebase.
3. Use a superset like Flow instead of TypeScript, but it has less community adoption and tooling.

⚬ RELEVANCE / SCOPE:
This migration is highly beneficial for long-term projects with growing complexity and teams that require better maintainability and fewer bugs. It aligns well with modern JavaScript/TypeScript ecosystems.

⚬ "SIDE EFFECTS":

1. The migration process might initially slow development due to the need for refactoring and resolving type errors.
2. Developers unfamiliar with TypeScript will require training or onboarding.
3. Tooling and library support for TypeScript must be ensured, which could involve upgrading dependencies.

⚬ CONTEXT:
Migrating to TypeScript ensures long-term stability, improves collaboration by enforcing clear contracts between components, and makes the codebase more robust. It's an investment in maintainability, scalability, and reduced debugging time.

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SHORT Table	(Summary)
Problem	Lack of strong typing leads to runtime errors and harder debugging.
Solution	Migrate the codebase to TypeScript for better type safety and tooling support.
Alternatives	Use JSDoc, incremental migration, or Flow.
Scope	Useful for long-term, complex projects or teams working collaboratively.
Side effects	Slower initial development, training, and tooling/library updates required.
Context	Enhances stability, maintainability, and collaboration for the project.

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[Gaur97shiv]

Problem --> Lack of strong typing leads to runtime errors and harder debugging. can you any example where you are getting runtime errors

[4yman-0]

Migrate the codebase to TypeScript ... enhance developer productivity

This migration is highly beneficial for long-term projects with growing complexity and teams that require better maintainability and fewer bugs.

Unfortunately, the build system and file structure can make this difficult. And this will require a Version 5 of the extension on its own because the API will change a lot. Remember, this extension has many, many users and a very good reputation.

Possible solution: Host an experimental v5 somewhere to do ALL THE REWRITES while the others fix endless bugs caused by completely proprietary JavaScript.

Edit: My v5 branch is in branch v5.

[ImprovedTube]

hi and thanks! @ImBIOS @4yman-0 @Gaur97shiv

• 1. Documentation for developers

you might like this search: (language:js stars:>3000 pushed:>2024-09-14 size:>1000)

We don't have a lot of variables yet, with more than one purpose or private data
(, but mostly only a collection of many little independent things.)

Yes you could identify some things in the code, which may be nice with TS, and how to search & replace to get to TS
With (bidirectional) github actions one could sync / uniting JS and TS authors.