TypeScript has been around since 2012, but 2016 feels like its inflection point. Angular 2's TypeScript requirement, VS Code's excellent TypeScript support, and large companies adopting it signal shifting momentum. But JavaScript developers remain divided on whether static types are improvement or burden.
TypeScript is winning—just not unanimously.
async/await reached Stage 4 this month, meaning it's officially part of the next ECMAScript version (ES2017). After years of callbacks and promise chains, JavaScript finally gets syntax for asynchronous code that reads like synchronous code.
This isn't hyperbole—async/await is the most significant JavaScript language feature since Promises.
The next version of JavaScript—ES6, or ECMAScript 2015 as it'll officially be called—is taking shape. Finalization is expected next year, but transpilers like Traceur let us use features today. The question is: which features are stable enough to bet on, and which might change?