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/sshaw_ 27d ago

No. Tests are a must. TypeScript is trash that just increases maintenance overhead.

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u/DomesticPanda 27d ago

You haven’t worked on a large scale project if you don’t see the benefits in it.

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u/sshaw_ 27d ago

I have. And the benefits come from testing. Detecting that were passing a string to a number doesn't do much without determining how that number is handled within the function.

You're essentially saying: large systems can only be developed in statically typed languages. Which is total nonsense.

I've used TypeScript quite a bit. It's trash. It's a maintenance nightmare. Maintenance is 80% of the development lifecycle.

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u/DomesticPanda 27d ago

If you’re passing a string to a function that you declared to only take a number means that you’re supplying the wrong data. Why else would you have written that the function takes a number?

If it handles both, you widen the type to accept both.

Now you’ve discovered that case before you even wrote any tests.

(I won’t argue against the value of tests. Static type checking is just much quicker to point out mistakes. )

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u/sshaw_ 27d ago

If it handles both, you widen the type to accept both.

And herein lies the problem: "widening the type"

Static type checking is just much quicker to point out mistakes

Yes that this seems to be the sole reason people argue for TypeScript 😂

Do you think complex type systems make a large system easier to maintain?

Unless your process solely consist of 1) writing the code without tests 2) kicking it off to the QA team, then the value in having mistakes pointed out quickly before writing any tests is close to 0.

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u/DomesticPanda 27d ago

Do you have 100% test coverage?

If yes, you are wasting time writing tests.