The First Taste of Typescript
05 Sep 2024
At a Glance
At first glance, Typescript was definitely not one of the top coding languages I was looking forward to learning, or honestly even knew was relevant, to be honest. People in this industry tend to push so much focus onto languages like Java and Python, and it makes it so easy to overlook how many other programming languages exist. It was also pretty alarming to find out during the first couple days of taking ICS 314 that I would have to do a lot of self learning. The lecture style was a complete 180 from my previous ICS classes where we’d spend multiple days going over a singular topic. It was honestly pretty stressful and I found myself scrambling, but I’m slowly getting the hang of it.
Taking it In
Before starting Typescript, my coding knowledge was limited to Java, and a bit of Python. Overall, Typescript seems pretty similar to Java and it was simple to understand the basics with that knowledge. I’m still learning and not extremely comfortable with Java, so you could expect the same with Typescript. I noticed that Typescript has a larger emphasis on functional programming whereas Java is object-oriented. Coding with Java feels a lot more organized and structured, kind of like stacking building blocks. On the other hand, functional programming with Typescript is something I have a hard time wrapping my brain around and it’s harder to conceptualize what I’m trying to code. As I write this, I’m also trying to mentally prepare myself for the first WOD we have tomorrow. I definitely blank under pressure and it kind of stresses me out in addition to me being a complete beginner in Typescript. However, I think this style will allow me to actually put my skills to the test and I’ll only improve quicker if I pick out my weaknesses and work on them as soon as possible.
Final Thoughts
Learning about Typescript made me realize that any language can have its advantages and disadvantages in certain situations, whether it comes to back-end development or web development. Overall, even though I’m nervous about how intense the style of Athletic Software Engineering can be, I’m also excited to see how effective it will be as well. Regular lecture styles are not at all engaging and it can get boring easily. With this method, I’m always kept on my toes and I already know that my skills in Typescript will improve tremendously throughout the course of this class.