Why I Switched to TypeScript (And Never Looked Back)

The Breaking Point

After years of writing JavaScript, I hit a wall. A production bug caused by a typo in a property name — one that TypeScript would have caught instantly. That was the moment I decided to make the switch. Here's what convinced me, what surprised me, and the lessons I learned along the way.

The Migration Strategy

You don't have to migrate everything at once. I started by adding TypeScript to new files only, using the 'allowJs' compiler option. Over 3 months, I gradually converted the entire codebase — prioritizing shared utilities and API boundaries first.

Unexpected Benefits

Beyond catching bugs, TypeScript transformed how I think about code. Defining types first became my design tool. Refactoring became fearless. Onboarding new team members went from weeks to days because the types served as living documentation.