I second the sentiment though. I wouldn't choose to use plain JavaScript over TypeScript for any significant project.
You might ask why I wouldn't just use a more fully typed language like Java. My main response is that I love having the flexibility to choose how strict the types should be. Sometimes, typing something out fully is not worth the trouble. Having escape hatches lets me make that choice. While I enjoy using types to turn runtime bugs into compile time errors as much as possible, it's not the right thing to do 100% of the time.
I second the sentiment though. I wouldn't choose to use plain JavaScript over TypeScript for any significant project.
You might ask why I wouldn't just use a more fully typed language like Java. My main response is that I love having the flexibility to choose how strict the types should be. Sometimes, typing something out fully is not worth the trouble. Having escape hatches lets me make that choice. While I enjoy using types to turn runtime bugs into compile time errors as much as possible, it's not the right thing to do 100% of the time.