No one should interpret a deep-dive article like this to indicate a language monoculture - we also use many other languages on the server-side including Python and a lot of C++.
I think TS on the server is a great choice for all the reasons that make TS interesting -- esp. the expressive structural typing system which is not found in the other languages. What is missing is a better runtime that supports true shared-memory (w/o serialization overhead between workers) multi-threading (for async thread pools or true parallel workloads) like other modern servers. This would be ideal for me at the moment.
I'll offer one advantage we have nowadays, which is to permit writing and atomically deploying apps that have both client and server parts - there's no need to preserve compatibility or worry about coping with independent versions.
Our platform allows you to write this all inside one project - so the ability to use a single language across both sides helps app developers maintain mental flow and reduces context-switching. It's even better now that we have TypeScript to perform instant type-checking across the client-server boundary.
hvidgaard|5 years ago
thelazydogsback|5 years ago
robpalmer|5 years ago
Our platform allows you to write this all inside one project - so the ability to use a single language across both sides helps app developers maintain mental flow and reduces context-switching. It's even better now that we have TypeScript to perform instant type-checking across the client-server boundary.
Gary Bernhardt shows off similar powers in his awesome video "End-to-End TypeScript: Database, Backend, API, and Frontend": https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GrnBXhsr0ng