Originally published in The New Stack Update.
We’ve been actively covering TypeScript but it wasn’t until recently that we saw stats showing just how popular it is. Stack Overflow added this JavaScript superset to its Developer Survey 2017, and boom — it is being used by 9.5 percent of developers, making it the ninth most used language in the survey. RedMonk’s latest programming language rankings saw it jump from #26 to #17 primarily due to the increased volume of GitHub pull requests. Although this may be partly due to the move of its repository from CodePlex to GitHub, the increased popularity is more likely due to improved functionality, maturity and its use with Angular 2. The chart above shows where TypeScript fits into the larger scheme of things, connecting Microsoft developers into the JavaScript world. It is also noteworthy that two integrated development environments (IDEs) that provide TypeScript tooling — Visual Studio Code and Atom — significantly increased usage in the Stack Overflow survey.