Exploring TypeScript: A Newcomer's Perspective
04 Sep 2024
Exploring TypeScript: A Newcomer’s Perspective
“What is TypeScript?” That was the first question I asked myself when hearing that we would be learning TypeScript for my ICS 314 course. I had absolutely no idea what TypeScript was, nor did I know that it even existed. To answer this question, TypeScript is kind of like an extension to JavaScript. Thankfully, I am already familiar with how JavaScript works; the problem lies within learning and understanding how to use TypeScript. During the first week of the fall semester, I had spent multiple days during my free time learning how to use TypeScript by using websites such as w3schools and codecademy.
The Learning Process
Jumping into the process of learning, I had anticipated that learning TypeScript, even the little basics of it, would have me stumped. I believed this would be the outcome because I’ve seen people struggle to learn JavaScript even if it’s just the very basics. Much to my surprise, it wasn’t like that at all. Instead, all of the information I had gained instantly clicked in my head, which helped me to swiftly finish learning how to use TypeScript. The reason why I think it was easy enough for me to grasp was because prior to learning TypeScript, I had just finished reviewing how to use JavaScript. Because TypeScript is like an “extension” to JavaScript, there wasn’t too much for me to worry about when learning it.
WOD’s
To further enhance my skills, the ICS 314 course assigned WOD’s, which are known as “workout of the day”. WOD’s are meant to assess us students on how well we know the materials from the week. In this case, the WOD’s we worked on so far have been on simple scenarios, such as converting temperature. These WOD’s have helped us to not only practice using TypeScript, but to also create and implement code within a certain amount of time. This is supposed to help us when we’re out in the real world getting jobs or when getting interviewed. In the image above is my time from the first WOD we needed to complete as an assignment. We were given 8 minutes to complete it. It took me two attempts to complete it where it took me over 8 minutes to complete on my first try. On my second try, I was able to complete it within 4 minutes.
My First Thoughts on WOD’s
When first learning about WOD’s, I already started to feel very stressed and overwhelmed by how it works. To summarize how it works, WOD’s are provided to us on Wednesdays for my class. The WOD’s are all timed, and if not completed within the time limit, then you receive no points. The code you create also needs to work, so if you submit code but it doesn’t work, you will not receive points for it. Basically, it’s pass or fail. Nothing else. Although they can be stressful, I think they serve as good practice and really get us to learn how to be able to create code on the spot. It also gives us an idea of whether or not we should study the material more.
Final Thoughts
While I’m sure there is still a lot for me to learn for TypeScript, overall, I think TypeScript was easy to learn since it’s JavaScript, but with a little more to it. If someone were to learn it, I think it would be simple only if they have experience with JavaScript. If someone with zero experience with JavaScript, let alone coding, were to try and learn, it would be a lot more difficult to understand. Thankfully for me, it was very simple since I already knew how to use JavaScript.