> static typing is a good thing [...] My issue is with the amount of extra work it places on developers
This is one of the eternal complains about type safety, somehow mitigated by type inference. I believe it is totally worth it in the case of Typescript.
> i) Like a framework, you are at the whim of TS devs as it gets updated (edited)
As a language, it has proven quite stable. Even if development stopped tomorrow you could keep the current version forever.
> ii) Libraries are badly documented
It is inconvenient but, since they are js libraries, they are compatible. You do not need specific ts examples, although it is extra nice.
> iii) Error messages are hard to follow
Did not run into this issue myself but fair enough.
> iv) It requires yet more transpilation
tsc compiles ts into js. Depending on what you use, you could get rid of webpack etc. and just use tsc.
In summary, for me Typescript is totally worth it. All this lost time you mention is different from the lost time adapting to x framework or y packer update, since it reduces errors down the line. It might feel like it is slowing you down, but you can always use any for certain modules and type things at the interface. It is still your decision what to type, the language gives you the tools to do so.
This is one of the eternal complains about type safety, somehow mitigated by type inference. I believe it is totally worth it in the case of Typescript.
> i) Like a framework, you are at the whim of TS devs as it gets updated (edited)
As a language, it has proven quite stable. Even if development stopped tomorrow you could keep the current version forever.
> ii) Libraries are badly documented
It is inconvenient but, since they are js libraries, they are compatible. You do not need specific ts examples, although it is extra nice.
> iii) Error messages are hard to follow
Did not run into this issue myself but fair enough.
> iv) It requires yet more transpilation
tsc compiles ts into js. Depending on what you use, you could get rid of webpack etc. and just use tsc.
In summary, for me Typescript is totally worth it. All this lost time you mention is different from the lost time adapting to x framework or y packer update, since it reduces errors down the line. It might feel like it is slowing you down, but you can always use any for certain modules and type things at the interface. It is still your decision what to type, the language gives you the tools to do so.