Mastering TypeScript: A Step-by-Step Beginner’s Journey

Unlock the Power of TypeScript: A Beginner’s Guide

What is TypeScript?

TypeScript (TS) is a programming language built on top of JavaScript (JS), adding a crucial layer of type safety to help you catch mistakes in your code before running it. As TS is closely tied to JS, having a basic understanding of JS is highly recommended before diving into TS.

How TypeScript Works

Unlike JavaScript, TypeScript doesn’t run directly in browsers. Instead, it’s first compiled into regular JavaScript code using the TypeScript compiler. This generated JS code can then run anywhere JS works.

Running TypeScript: Two Main Ways

You can run TypeScript in two main ways: online or on your computer. In this tutorial, we’ll explore both methods.

Run TypeScript Online

Try our free online TypeScript compiler to run your TypeScript code directly in your browser, without any installation required. This approach is perfect for beginners.

Run TypeScript on Your Computer

To run TypeScript locally on your computer, follow these steps for Windows, macOS, or Linux (Ubuntu).

Install TypeScript on Windows

1. Install Visual Studio Code.
2. Download and install Node.js.
3. Install TypeScript.
4. Verify your installation.

Step 1: Install Visual Studio Code

Go to the VS Code Official website and download the Windows installer. Once the download is complete, run the installer and follow the installation process.

Step 2: Download and Install Node.js

First, go to the official Node.js website and download the LTS version. After the download is complete, go to your Downloads folder and double-click the.msi file to start the installation.

Step 3: Install TypeScript

Once Node.js is installed, open your terminal or command prompt and run the following command to install TypeScript globally:

Step 4: Verify Your Installation

After installation, you can verify that TypeScript is installed correctly by running the following command:

Install TypeScript on Mac

To run TypeScript on your Mac OS, follow these steps:

1. Install VS Code.
2. Download and install Node.js.
3. Install TypeScript.
4. Verify your installation.

Install TypeScript on Linux (Ubuntu)

To run TypeScript on your Ubuntu device, follow these steps:

1. Install VS Code.
2. Install Node.
3. Install TypeScript.
4. Verify your installation.

Run Your First Program

1. Open VS Code and create a new file with a.ts extension.
2. Write the following code in your helloWorld.ts file:
3. Compile and run your code using the following commands:

This will compile your helloWorld.ts file into a helloWorld.js file. Once compiled, you can see the helloWorld.js file has been created. To run it, type the following command in the same terminal:

You should now see “Hello, TypeScript!” printed in the output console.

Alternative Way to Run Your Program

To make the development process faster, you can install Code Runner in VS Code. This allows you to run TypeScript files directly without manually compiling them to JavaScript every time.

Now that you’ve set up everything to run TypeScript programs on your computer, you’re ready to explore basic TypeScript features in the next tutorial.