TypeScript: A New Open and Interoperable Programming Language

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Posted by Kerry Godes
Senior Manager, Worldwide Marketing and Operations

In addition to supporting industry-standard languages like C++, Python, and JavaScript, Microsoft has always been at the forefront of creating great programming languages – Visual Basic, C#, and F# being the recent examples. We create these languages to better support a broad ecosystem of developers, increase productivity, and solve interoperability problems.

Earlier this month, we introduced a new programming language called TypeScript that solves a very specific problem – getting JavaScript development to scale across the current world of devices and platforms.

In recent years, the reach of JavaScript has grown tremendously, going beyond the browser to include native device apps, applications in the cloud, and more. With this expansion, we’re starting to see applications of unprecedented size written with JavaScript, despite the fact that creating large-scale JavaScript applications can be difficult.

TypeScript makes it easier. As an open and interoperable programming language, developers can write cross-platform large-scale JavaScript applications for any browser, for any host, on any operating system. This dramatically improves productivity, while maintaining existing code and continued use of the same familiar JavaScript libraries.

TypeScript builds upon the good work happening in Ecma International’s TC39 committee, which determines the direction of the ECMAScript, the formal standard for JavaScript. We continue to work with the standards committee to evolve JavaScript and support interoperability gains.

TypeScript is available as open source on CodePlex. There you can view our roadmap, submit feedback in the discussion forum, and see the TypeScript team continue to develop on CodePlex in the open.

For more information, check out the “Introducing TypeScript” Channel 9 recording with Microsoft Technical Fellow Anders Hejlsberg or see the detailed blog by S. Somasegar, corporate vice president of Microsoft’s Developer Division.