What this book covers

The book can be divided in two sections. The first section, chapters 1 to 4, describe how you can build standard application. These chapters introduce Angular 2 and React for web applications, NodeJS for servers and NativeScript for mobile apps. You should read chapters 1 to 3 in a sequence.

The second section, chapters 5 to 8, introduce more complex concepts. You will learn functional programming in chapters 5 to 7. The last chapter contains guidance to migrate a JavaScript codebase to TypeScript. You can read chapters 5 to 7 when you have not read chapters 1 to 4, though chapter 5 requires some knowledge of React.

Chapter 1, TypeScript 2.0 Fundamentals, will explain core principals to create (web) applications with TypeScript. If you have some basic knowledge of TypeScript 2.0 then you can skim over this chapter or use it as a reference while reading the other chapters. If you have not used TypeScript yet, then this chapter will teach you the fundamentals of TypeScript 2.0

Chapter 2, A Weather Forecast Widget with Angular 2, you will learn how you can build an application in Angular 2. The chapter introduces core principals of Angular and will use an online API as source for the weather forecast.

Chapter 3, Note-Taking App with a Server, we will build a server and client with Node and Angular for this application. You will see how code can be shared between the client and the server.

Chapter 4, Real-Time Chat, introduces React and websockets. Using these techniques, we will write the server and client of the chat application.

Chapter 5, Native QR Scanner App, after having written three web applications, we will now write a mobile app. You will learn how you can use NativeScript and its plugins to write a native app.

Chapter 6, Advanced Programming in TypeScript,  covers more advanced features of TypeScript, including type guards, control flow analysis and performance of algorithms.

Chapter 7, Spreadsheet Applications with Functional Programming, introduces a different programming style: functional programming. You will learn how this can be used in TypeScript. We will use React with a Flux-based architecture, which fits nicely with TypeScript and Functional Programming.

Chapter 8, Pac Man in HTML5, will show how to use the HTML5 canvas to create a game. We will use some Functional Programming again, and take a look at how we can create a framework for it based on the Flux architecture.

Chapter 9, Playing Tic-Tac-Toe against an AI, will explain how to build a command-line application in which you can play Tic-Tac-Toe. You will learn how you can learn the computer to play the game. When done correctly, the computer should never lose.

Chapter 10, Migrate JavaScript to TypeScript, will show how you can incrementally migrate a JavaScript codebase to TypeScript. We will focus on how you can keep the project working during this transition.