Can I be happy writing TypeScript for the browser? I made a Node project that imports Three.js, and Browserify takes almost four seconds to bundle it every time I make a change. Is this how it’s done?

Why are you using node to build a web project?

I don’t know, the TypeScript doc said ‘npm install typescript --save-dev’ and I just kept going 😂

This is why people keep reinventing web tooling! E.g. https://esbuild.github.io/

Modern web tooling is, famously, a shit-show. I empathize with you if you’re new to it, @alltom! But, fwiw, I’m used to more like a 1/4 second latency between saving a file and seeing an update in the browser. That’s using Vite, but an older Webpack-based setup wasn’t that different. So I think you can do better than 4 seconds. Most build systems have a distinction between a production build mode and a hot-reloading development mode. Do you know if you’re using the development mode?

I can second the Vite recommendation as a low(ish)-friction way to get started with TypeScript.

Have you considered bringing in Three.js from a CDN and writing plain JS code? Despite my many complaints with JS-as-a-language, I find this the most civilized way to interact with that ecosystem in the browser.

I cannot understand why Typescript even exists. Javascript is Javascript. I suspect it's company architects trying to impose some sense of control over developers.

@Duncan Cragg If you want to build a website, and you prefer using static typing, isn't that a good enough reason to use Typescript? I personally use it. I don't love it, but I prefer it over plain Javascript.

CoffeeScript: exists

That's all I want it for. I've maintained large JavaScript code bases, and the TypeScript ones were easier for me. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ Vite is great! Thanks a bunch!