Can I use ONLY JavaScript with Ionic 3?

Ionic Framework ionic-v3
1

I prefer to use Smalltalk mostly, with PharoJS, transpiled to JavaScript. This way it minimizes the amount of JavaScript I have to write. Many transpilers that output JavaScript are a superior way to develop apps deployed on the ubiquitous JS runtimes everywhere. Microsoft developed TypeScript, Google developed GWT so they wouldn’t have to deal with JavaScript’s warts and inconsistencies.

MY QUESTION is: Can is use only JavaScript for developing Ionic 3 apps?

If ‘no’, then can I just rename my generated JavaScript .js files to .ts and have that work with Ionic 3?

My goal would be to automate the entire app building process from Smalltalk.

1 Like
2

One thing I think can safely be said is that this should be roughly 9000x less frustrating with Ionic 4 than with Ionic 3, because Ionic 3 is so tightly coupled with Angular, and so much of Angular relies on app code being TypeScript.

3

Thanks for that insight. How far away is Ionic 4?

Also, there’s the tool-chain side that I want to automate, plus the JavaScript/TypeScript embedded in the apps themselves.

4

If you use Ionic 3 you can use TypeScript.

5

Point is, I do not want to use TypeScript.
Can I use only JavaScript with Ionic 3?

6

Ionic 3 is implemented in TypeScript. Angular is implemented in TypeScript.

You can use JavaScript in TypeScript, for example: https://momentjs.com/docs/#/use-it/typescript/