> vscode seems to figure out the types in javascript without any static typing. It is actually using TypeScript's engine for this. It uses TypeScript's type de

> vscode seems to figure out the types in javascript without any static typing. It is actually using TypeScript's engine for this. It uses TypeScript's type definitions where it is available (e.g. most popular libraries and built-ins), and some inference rules where it has to work with plain JavaScript. While this does give you decent auto-complete in a lot of cases (and still getting better), it's not quite as good as using TypeScript directly. > Searching for strings isn't that much worse. I'm busy with a large refactoring project, and TypeScript has been amazing for this. After restructuring code, you can just keep on fixing things until there's no more red. This is not just about reducing bugs - it removes almost any thinking/mental overhead required for the refactoring process. > Also, when it comes to web development, you cross into the client-side and suddenly you can't refactor. So you can only refactor the server-side and end up with a mismatch. TypeScript also works very well for client-side. Of course, if you change the API between the client and server, that's a different story.