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I believe this will have major implications for the WebAssembly ecosystem. It also makes me wonder how AssemblyScript will fit into the picture. Anyone from Mi

I believe this will have major implications for the WebAssembly ecosystem. It also makes me wonder how AssemblyScript will fit into the picture. Anyone from Microsoft/TypeScript can shed some light on future plans?

jedisct1 7y ago
In its current state, Static TypeScript is a toy compared to AssemblyScript. It doesn’t support much of the original TypeScript features, while AssemblyScript is getting pretty close to the original TypeScript. AssemblyScript was also specifically designed to target WebAssembly. For example, it supports 64 bit types and has builtins that directly map to WebAssembly opcodes. Static TypeScript would have to be repurposed as explicitly targeting WebAssembly in order to become a viable alternative. And Static TypeScript is part of a set of projects with very different goals. That being said, it could indeed be turned into something targeting WebAssembly. And unless Microsoft goes that route, it may happen as a fork. Still, I’m not sure of the benefits compared to AssemblyScript. I’d rather see Microsoft contribute to AssemblyScript.
- syrusakbary 7y ago
  Same. I’d like to analyze more time into the project, it seems is mainly for education proposes? Either way, I hope Microsoft pushes AssemblyScript forward :)
- darzu 7y ago
  Like you said, STS and AssemblyScript have very different goals. In fact, STS is generally not faster than vanilla JS on V8. STS is primarily targeted at MCUs which need a low space and memory footprint while still being reasonably performant. The main use case for STS is https://makecode.com https://makecode.com which is a CS EDU platform for physical computing.
dangerbird2 7y ago
Assemblyscript targets webassembly, while Static Typescript is designed for ARM microcontrollers. The main sell for static typescript seems to be that it provides a compiler, linker, and SDK for arduino-alikes that can be hosted on a client-side webapp for easy cross-platform distribution

jedisct1 7y ago

In its current state, Static TypeScript is a toy compared to AssemblyScript. It doesn’t support much of the original TypeScript features, while AssemblyScript is getting pretty close to the original TypeScript. AssemblyScript was also specifically designed to target WebAssembly. For example, it supports 64 bit types and has builtins that directly map to WebAssembly opcodes. Static TypeScript would have to be repurposed as explicitly targeting WebAssembly in order to become a viable alternative. And Static TypeScript is part of a set of projects with very different goals. That being said, it could indeed be turned into something targeting WebAssembly. And unless Microsoft goes that route, it may happen as a fork. Still, I’m not sure of the benefits compared to AssemblyScript. I’d rather see Microsoft contribute to AssemblyScript.

syrusakbary 7y ago
Same. I’d like to analyze more time into the project, it seems is mainly for education proposes? Either way, I hope Microsoft pushes AssemblyScript forward :)
darzu 7y ago
Like you said, STS and AssemblyScript have very different goals. In fact, STS is generally not faster than vanilla JS on V8. STS is primarily targeted at MCUs which need a low space and memory footprint while still being reasonably performant. The main use case for STS is https://makecode.com https://makecode.com which is a CS EDU platform for physical computing.

dangerbird2 7y ago

Assemblyscript targets webassembly, while Static Typescript is designed for ARM microcontrollers. The main sell for static typescript seems to be that it provides a compiler, linker, and SDK for arduino-alikes that can be hosted on a client-side webapp for easy cross-platform distribution