Should you use Javascript or Typescript?

Any answer to this question is sure to be an opinionated one. So here is my very own opinion.

For me, the main advantage of Typescript is that it documents your code base. It describes how the developer expects the code to be used.

Correctly typing function parameters and return values should do the majority of the typing work. Preferring to type functions over variables will generally lead you to structure your code a bit better.

Typescript

When your project needs to be built before it can be run, I see few reasons not to include Typescript. Even if you just add one or two types to your code base, it is still better than none.

I personally do not agree with the "you have to type absolutely everything" idea or the "you should never use any" rule.

Javascript

When you have a simple project that can run straight from the source folder, adding Typescript is way too much of a hassle to be worth it. That doesn't mean, though, that you cannot use types in your code base. You just have to use something other than Typescript, like JSDoc which does not require any additional configuration or tools in many popular IDE's.

Final thoughts

Whether you use Typescript or plain old Javascript, it is always best to document and/or type your code base.

Let us all hope for the quick resolution of the TC39's Types as comments proposal so we can all start using types in Javascript.