Technology
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May 7, 2023

The Journey to TypeScript: Why We Switched and Never Looked Back

At AppTracker, we constantly strive to stay up-to-date with modern web technologies. This commitment helps us ensure that our platform remains cutting-edge and offers our customers the most advanced features and capabilities. Recently, we made a significant change to our tech stack – we switched to TypeScript, and it has been a game-changer for our team.

Why We Decided to Switch to TypeScript

When we first started working on AppTracker around 8 months ago, we built the initial version using our previous stack. However, we knew that TypeScript would eventually become a necessary addition to our tech stack. After researching the benefits of TypeScript, we decided to begin a rewrite immediately.

The Benefits of TypeScript:

TypeScript offers several benefits that have significantly improved our development process:

  1. Type safety: TypeScript ensures that our code is more robust and less prone to errors. This has been especially valuable as we launched AppTracker and resolved initial issues.
  2. Improved code maintainability: TypeScript makes it easier to understand and maintain our codebase, ensuring long-term success as our platform evolves.
  3. Better developer experience: With TypeScript, our team has been able to leverage advanced features like autocompletion and type inference, making the development process more efficient and enjoyable.

The Rewrite and Transition to the T3 Stack

Understanding the importance of type safety and the benefits it would provide, we decided to upgrade our tech stack to the full T3 stack, created by Theo of ping.gg. The T3 stack includes Next.js, Tailwind, TypeScript, and NextAuth, providing a comprehensive and powerful development ecosystem.

We undertook this rewrite knowing that our launch was just two weeks away, but we were confident in the long-term advantages it would bring. The transition went smoothly, and we have thoroughly enjoyed working within the T3 stack ecosystem, utilizing tools like Vercel and Planetscale.

Conclusion

Switching to TypeScript has been a crucial decision for AppTracker, and we couldn't be happier with the results. Our platform is now more reliable, maintainable, and efficient, allowing us to better serve our customers and fulfill our mission of revolutionizing the consumer financing experience.

As we continue to evolve and improve AppTracker, we remain committed to staying on top of modern web technologies and incorporating the best practices and tools available. The switch to TypeScript has been a testament to that commitment and has set us on a path to continued success.