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EJS vs TypeScript: What are the differences?

  1. 1. Syntax: EJS uses a syntax that is similar to HTML, allowing developers to embed JavaScript code within HTML templates using tags like <% %> and <%= %>. On the other hand, TypeScript is a superset of JavaScript and it adds static typing to JavaScript, allowing developers to write type-safe code and catch errors at compile time.

  2. 2. Templating vs Language Extension: EJS is a templating language that is used to dynamically generate HTML content on the server side. It is primarily used to inject dynamic data into HTML templates at runtime. On the other hand, TypeScript is a language extension that adds features and capabilities to JavaScript, such as static typing, classes, interfaces, and modules, enabling developers to write more complex and scalable applications.

  3. 3. Runtime vs Compile-time: EJS templates are processed at runtime by the server, meaning that the HTML content is generated dynamically on each request. This allows for flexibility and adaptability. In contrast, TypeScript code is transpiled to plain JavaScript during the build process and the resulting JavaScript files are then executed by the browser or server. This compilation step catches syntax errors and type mismatches at compile-time, reducing the chances of runtime errors.

  4. 4. Browser vs Server Execution: EJS templates are executed on the server side, generating HTML content that is then sent to the browser for rendering. This can offload some processing from the client's device and reduce the amount of data transferred over the network. TypeScript, on the other hand, is executed on the client side, directly in the browser or through a JavaScript runtime environment like Node.js.

  5. 5. Dynamic Content vs Static Types: EJS allows developers to easily inject dynamic data into HTML templates, enabling the creation of dynamic web pages. This makes it ideal for scenarios where the content needs to vary based on user inputs or other factors. TypeScript, on the other hand, focuses on enhancing JavaScript with static typing, ensuring that code is more reliable and easier to maintain by catching type-related errors early on.

  6. 6. Ecosystem and Community: EJS has its own ecosystem and community, with resources, plugins, and libraries specific to EJS templating. TypeScript, on the other hand, benefits from the larger JavaScript ecosystem, with access to a wide range of libraries, frameworks, and tools that can be used alongside TypeScript.

In Summary, EJS is a templating language used for dynamic HTML generation on the server side, while TypeScript is a superset of JavaScript that adds static typing and language features to enhance JavaScript development. EJS focuses on runtime generation of HTML content, allowing for flexibility and dynamic changes, while TypeScript focuses on type safety and compile-time error checking, increasing code reliability. EJS has its own ecosystem, while TypeScript benefits from the larger JavaScript community.

Advice on EJS and TypeScript
Needs advice
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TypeScriptTypeScript
and
Flow (JS)Flow (JS)

From a StackShare community member: "We are looking to rewrite our outdated front-end with TypeScript. Right now we have a mix of CoffeeScript and vanilla JavaScript. I have read that adopting TypeScript can help enforce better code quality, and best practices. I also heard good things about Flow (JS). Which one would you recommend and why?"

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Replies (14)
Recommends
on
TypeScriptTypeScript

I use TypeScript because:

  • incredible developer tooling and community support
  • actively developed and supported by Microsoft (yes, I like Microsoft) ;)
  • easier to make sense of a TS codebase because the annotations provide so much more context than plain JS
  • refactors become easier (VSCode has superb support for TS)

I've switched back and forth between TS and Flow and decided a year ago to abandon Flow completely in favor of TS. I don't want to bash Flow, however, my main grievances are very poor tooling (editor integration leaves much to be desired), a slower release cycle, and subpar docs and community support.

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Recommends
on
TypeScriptTypeScript

I use TypeScript because it isn't just about validating the types I'm expecting to receive though that is a huge part of it too. Flow (JS) seems to be a type system only. TypeScript also allows you to use the latest features of JavaScript while also providing the type checking. To be fair to Flow (JS), I have not used it, but likely wouldn't have due to the additional features I get from TypeScript.

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David Koblas
VP Engineering at Not disclosed · | 9 upvotes · 162.2K views
Recommends
on
TypeScriptTypeScript
at

We originally (in 2017) started rewriting our platform from JavaScript to Flow (JS) but found the library support for Flow was lacking. After switching gears to TypeScript we've never looked back. At this point we're finding that frontend and backend libraries are supporting TypeScript out of the box and where the support is missing that the commuity is typically got a solution in hand.

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Forrest Norvell
engineering manager at self-employed · | 6 upvotes · 252.2K views
Recommends
on
TypeScriptTypeScript

I use TypeScript because the tooling is more mature (the decision to discontinue TSLint in favor of moving all its checks to ESLint is a thoughtful and mature decision), there's a ton of examples and tutorials for it, and it just generally seems to be where the industry is headed. Flow (JS) is a fine tool, but it just hasn't seen the uptake that TS has, and as a result is lacking a lot of the nicer small things, like thorough Visual Studio Code integration, offered by TS.

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Recommends
on
TypeScriptTypeScript

We currently use TypeScript at work. Previously we used Flow (JS) but it was sometimes really difficult to make the types work the way you want. Especially non-trivial types were problematic. And the IDE support wasn't good, Flow took too much resources and sometimes remain stuck and do not show errors (I use Visual Studio Code). With TypeScript we almost do not have these problems. IDE support is superb, working with types is much easier and typing system seems more mature and powerful. There are some downsides (like partion inheritance etc.), but TS team is still pushing it forward. So for me TypeScript is clear winner.

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Tim Abbott
Recommends
on
UnderscoreUnderscore
at

We use Underscore because it's a reasonable library for providing all the reasonable helper functions missing from JavaScript ES5 (or that perform poorly if you use the default ES5 version).

Since we're migrating the codebase to TypeScript , we'll likely end up removing most usage of it and ultimately no longer needing it, but we've been very happy with the library.

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Recommends
on
TypeScriptTypeScript

I use TypeScript because it's adoption by many developers, it's supported by many companies, and it's growth. AngularJS, React, @ASP.NET Core. I started using it in .NET Core, then for a job. Later I added more Angular experience and wrote more React software. It makes your code easier to understand and read... which means it makes other people's code easier to understand and read.

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Recommends
on
TypeScriptTypeScript

I use TypeScript for Web Applications and for both frontend and backend because it has a lot of tooling around it and they really got the types and type safety right. Flow (JS) on the other hand lacks tooling and most of the times I scramble to find the right way of building my contracts in which TypeScript is very intuitive and natural. Additionally TypeScript is very similar to Java so your backend engineers and full stack engineers can work with it without much of context switch.

The only time I think Flow shines is (based on probably my outdated knowledge) Flow is/was the only option if you want/wanted to build a React Native application mainly because React Native transpiler at the time I was working with it would only work with flow.

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Recommends
on
TypeScriptTypeScript

If you will start a project from scratch I recommend to use TypeScript. But, If you work with legacy projects written in JavaScript I recommend Flow (JS). Both tools have the same objective: reduce the bad code (which create illegible code, generate bugs e problems to maintenance). Flex helps you to avoid fall in bad codes, but TypeScript prevent you to c you to create bad codes. I believe cause this some JavaScript fans don't like TS, because TS block you to write some types o code. This is the fundamental difference between TS and Flow: Flow avoid problems, but no force. TS force you to prevent problems.

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Frédéric MARAND
Core Developer at OSInet · | 2 upvotes · 134.4K views
Recommends
on
TypeScriptTypeScript

I use TypeScript because I tried both on a Meteor project, and found the quantity of errors it enabled us to catch and the simplification of code it allowed was higher than Flow (JS).

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Recommends
on
TypeScriptTypeScript

I use TypeScript because of broad support, on tools, repos, community ... the only reason to consider flow is if you're a facebook employee

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Recommends
on
TypeScriptTypeScript

I use TypeScript because it's the most mature/issue-free Javascript type-checker available, as far as I've seen.

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Damian Esteban
CTO @ betterPT at BetterPT · | 1 upvotes · 122.1K views
Recommends
on
TypeScriptTypeScript
at

I recommend TypeScript. When used correctly, TypeScript can enable your application to be scalable, easy to refactor, safe, and stable. One of the biggest draws of working with any typed language is that it forces you to think about your functions' inputs and outputs. This is invaluable as it can lead to more declarative, functional style code that ultimately can be easier to reason about.

TypeScript is however not a silver bullet. Just like anything new it takes time to fully understand the concepts of types, interfaces, abstract classes, and enums. In my experience engineers who excel when using TypeScript are those who have experience working with a statically typed language.

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Rafael Avaria
Ingeniero civil en electrónica · | 1 upvotes · 120.9K views
Recommends
on
TypeScriptTypeScript

I use TypeScript because i love to program in Angular and used in node as well

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Decisions about EJS and TypeScript
Vladyslav Holubiev
Sr. Directory of Technology at Shelf · | 3 upvotes · 138.4K views

As our codebase grew in size, we were looking for ways to improve code quality. We chose TypeScript over Flow due to its rapid industry adoption and overall tools support.

We noticed how different open-source projects were migrating from Flow to TypeScript. Most notably, it was Jest, even though Jest and Flow were both developed by Facebook. See this HN thread if you want to dive into an interesting discussion around this move.

Additionally, at the beginning of 2019, both Babel and ESLint enabled seamless TypeScript support, which allowed easy migration path in a backward-compatible way.

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Oleksandr Fedotov
Senior Software Engineer at joyn · | 4 upvotes · 119.6K views

Initially making a decision to use Flow vs Typescript we decided to go with flow as we wanted our code to run in a way we wrote it, because when using Flow types are simply removed from the code without modifying the code itself. Sadly, the type system of Flow was in some cases very hard to understand and declare the types correctly, especially in cases when the structure is very dynamic (e.g. object keys and values are created dynamically). Another reason was bad integration with IDE and frequent crashes which made DX very poor. Therefore, we made another evaluation of Typescript and decided to move towards it. As our code base was pretty big when we decided to migrate to TS we couldn't just stop and re-write everything, that's why we started writing new modules in Typescript as well as transforming old components. To make that possible we had to configure Webpack loader to support simultaneous bundling of Flow&JS and Typescript. After around 2 months of the transformation we have around 40% of code being written in Typescript and we are more than happy with integration TS has with IDE, as well as ease of declaring types for dynamic modules and functions.

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Pros of EJS
Pros of TypeScript
  • 6
    For a beginner it's just plain javascript code
  • 6
    It'a easy to understand the concept behind it
  • 3
    You almost know how to use it from start
  • 3
    Quick for templating UI project
  • 174
    More intuitive and type safe javascript
  • 106
    Type safe
  • 80
    JavaScript superset
  • 48
    The best AltJS ever
  • 27
    Best AltJS for BackEnd
  • 15
    Powerful type system, including generics & JS features
  • 11
    Compile time errors
  • 11
    Nice and seamless hybrid of static and dynamic typing
  • 10
    Aligned with ES development for compatibility
  • 7
    Angular
  • 7
    Structural, rather than nominal, subtyping
  • 5
    Starts and ends with JavaScript
  • 1
    Garbage collection

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Cons of EJS
Cons of TypeScript
    Be the first to leave a con
    • 5
      Code may look heavy and confusing
    • 4
      Hype

    Sign up to add or upvote consMake informed product decisions

    What is EJS?

    It is a simple templating language that lets you generate HTML markup with plain JavaScript. No religiousness about how to organize things. No reinvention of iteration and control-flow. It's just plain JavaScript.

    What is TypeScript?

    TypeScript is a language for application-scale JavaScript development. It's a typed superset of JavaScript that compiles to plain JavaScript.

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    What companies use EJS?
    What companies use TypeScript?
    See which teams inside your own company are using EJS or TypeScript.
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    What tools integrate with EJS?
    What tools integrate with TypeScript?

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    What are some alternatives to EJS and TypeScript?
    Handlebars.js
    Handlebars.js is an extension to the Mustache templating language created by Chris Wanstrath. Handlebars.js and Mustache are both logicless templating languages that keep the view and the code separated like we all know they should be.
    React
    Lots of people use React as the V in MVC. Since React makes no assumptions about the rest of your technology stack, it's easy to try it out on a small feature in an existing project.
    Pug
    This project was formerly known as "Jade." Pug is a high performance template engine heavily influenced by Haml and implemented with JavaScript for Node.js and browsers.
    JSX
    It is designed to run on modern web browsers. It performs optimization while compiling the source code to JavaScript. The generated code runs faster than an equivalent code written directly in JavaScript.
    Mustache
    Mustache is a logic-less template syntax. It can be used for HTML, config files, source code - anything. It works by expanding tags in a template using values provided in a hash or object. We call it "logic-less" because there are no if statements, else clauses, or for loops. Instead there are only tags. Some tags are replaced with a value, some nothing, and others a series of values.
    See all alternatives