Choosing a JavaScript framework or library to develop Single Page Applications (SPAs) is a difficult and sometimes daunting task. It seems that there is a new framework appearing every other month, promising more and more functionality for less and less code. To help developers compare these frameworks, and make an informed choice, Addy Osmani wrote an excellent article, named Journey Through the JavaScript MVC Jungle, available at http://www.smashingmagazine.com/2012/07/27/journey-through-the-javascript-mvc-jungle/.
In essence, his advice is simple—it's a personal choice—so try some frameworks out, and see what best fits your needs, your programming mindset, and your existing skill set. The TodoMVC project (http://todomvc.com), which Addy started, does an excellent job of implementing the same application in a number of Model View Something (MV*) JavaScript frameworks. This really is a reference site for digging into a fully working application, and comparing for yourself the coding techniques and styles of different frameworks.
Again, depending on the JavaScript library that you are using within TypeScript, you may need to write your TypeScript code in a specific way. Bear this in mind when choosing a framework—if it is difficult to use with TypeScript, then you may be better off looking at another framework with better integration. If it is easy and natural to work with the framework in TypeScript, then your productivity and overall development experience will be much better.
In this section, we will look at some of the older JavaScript libraries, along with their declaration files, and see how to write compatible TypeScript. The key thing to remember is that TypeScript generates JavaScript—so if you are battling to use a third-party library, then crack open the generated JavaScript and see what the JavaScript code looks like that TypeScript is emitting. If the generated JavaScript matches the JavaScript code samples in the library's documentation, then you are on the right track. If not, then you may need to modify your TypeScript until the compiled JavaScript starts matching up with the samples.
When trying to write TypeScript code for a third-party JavaScript framework—particularly if you are working off the JavaScript documentation—our initial foray may just be one of trial and error. The rest of this chapter shows how three different libraries require different ways of writing TypeScript.