Node.js, the popular JavaScript runtime, is moving to stabilize type stripping, a feature that allows developers to execute TypeScript files without source maps or additional configuration, speeding up the development process.
The Node.js runtime was fitted with type stripping as an experimental feature last August. Type stripping intentionally does not support syntaxes requiring JavaScript code generation. By replacing inline types with whitespace, Node.js can run TypeScript code without the need for source maps. The feature is “on its way” to being stable in Node.js, said Marco Ippolito of the Node.js steering committee in a January 13 blog post. TypeScript, Microsoft’s JavaScript variant with static typing and other enhancements, has become a cornerstone of modern development and has been the most-requested feature in the latest Node.js user surveys, Ippolito said.
Although TypeScript has been supported in Node.js for some time through loaders, these have relied heavily on configuration and user libraries. “This reliance led to inconsistencies between different loaders, making them difficult to use interchangeably,” Ippolito wrote in the blog post. “The developer experience suffered due to these inconsistencies and the extra setup required.”
