Typescript Support

[giovannidegani]

Any plans to use typescript or support it with typings ?

[droshev]

@tiefox could you share your thoughts about using TS in React projects?

[o0Djeen0o]

@droshev quick thoughts:

From this repository benefits:

• static typechecks !
• ease of code maintenance, especially with growing codebase
• saving developer time (after initial startup which is for sure more complex, but really well covered today) code completion, intellisense...
• react support is really good with typescript

For consumers:

• Sharing your component APIs with d.ts files

I don't want to make a real advert or develop arguments, I think that many good writers have done it already :-)

[giovannidegani]

Sorry for late reply, but my thoughts are exactly the same as @o0Djeen0o . In my company we are looking to standardize all front-end development on Typescript, and currently looking to base our own internal component library for our internal enterprise apps on a good foundation, and we do already some Fiori + UI5, but also want to provide a standard to other teams working with React and Angular. Would be awesome if it was already in Typescript :)

[droshev]

@o0Djeen0o @tiefox thanks for your feedback. I have asked few colleagues writing in React such as @casche to share some ideas. They use https://flow.org/. What are your thoughts for TS vs. Flow?

[giovannidegani]

For me is mostly the traction that TS is getting vs Flow, the ecosystem is booming and we are making a bet on it. See this https://2018.stateofjs.com/javascript-flavors/conclusion/

[droshev]

@tiefox I have seen that link. Both of them are close in terms of dev's satisfaction. I know that TS is more popular this year. This may flip quite fast.
Can we try to evaluate both and make a decision? What do you think if we (me, @InnaAtanasova, and @chrismanciero) we use Flow for a component and you use TS for the same component?
What do you think? If you agree which component would you propose?

[o0Djeen0o]

Hi again @droshev,

I think that both solutions are valid for static type checking. As @tiefox mentionned, typescript has better support from the open source community, but Flow is also used and has Facebook behind, so both solutions valid here.

The real difference is that Typescript is not just about static typings. It can work like that (you have for instance a babel preset to just remove typings info, like for Flow), but it is more a language with:

• A compiler for your code, choosing which type of ES output you would like to address
• Since 3.0, it has project reference, helping to work with mono repos for instance, which is really useful for project with many components, like UI frameworks

I'll let you check what fits your needs best.

[droshev]

@o0Djeen0o @tiefox ok, we will discuss it and keep you posted

[giovannidegani]

@droshev Sure! Lets figure out the right component and do this :)

[chrismanciero]

Since the question is still out there as to how/if we should use TypeScript or Flow for our components,
I took the task of seeing what would be involved with converting a component into TypeScript. There was no definitive reason why I choose TypeScript over Flow, I just wanted to learn TypeScript 😄 .

For my learning process, I decided to convert the SearchInput control. I create a separate create-react-app project with typescript enabled and it took about less than an hour to get the SearchInput control working exactly like it does in the current version. I did spend more time familiarizing myself with Typescript syntax since I haven't used it in a while than I did actually convert the JS to TSX.

Because that conversion was so fast I also did the MultiInput, Modal and Pagination components as well. I would have to say in total time worked, it probably took less than 2 hours to convert all 4 components to TypeScript.

[giovannidegani]

Great @chrismanciero . I didn't had time yet to look into this ( just a lousy architect with barely any time to code anymore ) but I will also try a few.

[alexanderchan]

I don't want to start a typescript vs flow debate but with Microsoft behind TypeScript it's been great with tooling and also the fact that the angular fundamentals codebase will also be leaning towards typescript -- I think the answer is pretty straightforward about which to choose for consistency.

[chrismanciero]

I created this branch that has about 18 of 31 components rewritten using TypeScript - https://github.com/SAP/fundamental-react/tree/typescript-conversion

Maybe that will push the conversation further as to what solution to use and if we go with TypeScript the ground work is setup to go foward with it.