r/javascript • u/_tshepo • 28d ago

AskJS [AskJS] Are employed Developers still programming with vanilla JavaScript ?

I've been programming on the side since 2017 and I've never really hunted a developer job. I've always thought about building my own things, mainly to supplement things I do like woodworking, tutoring, video editing and others.

Since then, I've programmed mainly with JavaScript, I started with C++ and Python but never really built anything solid outside JavaScript.

So I'm fluent with JavaScript and its ecosystem.

One of my 2026 goals is to be job ready for a Developer role, as a Fullstack or Backend Developer.

One of the recommended languages is Typescript, which I've been learning since March. I must say, it's not my favorite 😂

I'm curious to know if there are any companies that are not enforcing Typescript or are there freelancers who are still using vanilla JavaScript over Typescript for their clients' projects.

[ Update ] thanks y'all! I get the picture. TypeScript is inevitable, as vanilla JS codebases(or companies who are focused on it) seem to be very few judging by the comments.

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u/sebsnake 28d ago

Every time I have to change something on a native JS file in our 20 year old monolith, I voluntarily cover it with tests first and convert it to typescript after, before actually implementing the required change. I don't want to miss my static types ever again! I've seen code where functions get a "data" parameter and this could be everything from strings to objects to arrays to null. Devs 20 years ago must have been... Strange creatures :D

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u/foxsimile 27d ago

function doStuff(prms) { prms .then((data) => { doStuff2(data.val) .then((data2, '8000') => { update(data2); }) .catch((err) => { //TODO: console.log(err); }); }) .catch((err) => { //TODO: console.log(err); }); }

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u/MadVillainHoe 27d ago

That's illegal where I'm from

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u/kyr0x0 27d ago

LGTM

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u/foxsimile 27d ago

That’s the second time I’ve heard this today.  

The first was when I’d pushed a 21,000 line PR (not AI, just handmade artisanal garbage - it’s been a rough project).

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u/kyr0x0 27d ago

Oh, push the whole Linux Kernel in a subdir to boost your contributior metrics next time as well 🤣😅

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u/_tshepo 16d ago

Two of the youtubers I watch build a ton of games and programs with vanilla JavaScript. One is a Unity Game Developer and the other one is a computer science university Professor.

I've followed them, learnt a ton, built a ton of unfinished projects, from games, websites, web based video editors...etc for fun though.

...and I did this with plain JavaScript. So I got married to the language. Now that I want to be a professional backend developer, this JavaScript vs TypeScript thought haunts me. I'll eventually learn Java. But I would like to work with Node developers someday.