Microsoft says work on the next two versions of TypeScript is going well, with both TypeScript 6 and 7 on course to appear in early 2026. TypeScript 7.0 is the version that is being rewritten in native code, while TypeScript 6.0 will be the last version of the JavaScript-based version/ 

TypeScript is a superset of JavaScript that adds optional static types which can be checked by the TypeScript compiler to catch common errors in your programs. TypeScript can use this information to help you avoid about mistakes like typos, missing arguments, or forgetting to check for null and undefined.

Microsoft announced earlier this year that the TypeScript team was working on porting the compiler and language service to native code to take advantage of better raw performance, memory usage, and parallelism. This work, codenamed "Project Corsa", is described as going well. 

Among the features described as working well in the language support are a number of improvements since the last update, including auto-imports, find-all-references, and rename. These operations now work in any TypeScript or JavaScript codebase,  including those with project references. Parts of the language service have been reworked to improve reliability while also making use of shared-memory parallelism. While some of these were unreliable but faster, this has improved, and the developers say they think trying out TypeScript's native previews is worth it, with faster load times, less memory usage, and a more snappy/responsive editor on the whole. However, the extension makes it easy to toggle between VS Code's built-in TypeScript experience and the new one.

The TypeScript compiler has also made significant progress in the native port, with TypeScript 7's type-checking described as very nearly complete, and beyond single-pass/single-project type checking, the command-line compiler has reached major parity as well.

For many developers, the release of TypeScript 6.0 will be more important. This is Microsoft's last release based on the existing TypeScript/JavaScript codebase, with no plans for a TypeScript 6.1, though there may be patch releases if necessary. The developers say you can think of TypeScript 6.0 as a "bridge" release between TypeScript 5.9 line and 7.0. 6.0 will deprecate features to align with 7.0, and will be highly compatible in terms of type-checking behavior.

Most codebases which need editor-side Strada-specific functionality (e.g. language service plugins) should be able to use 6.0 for editor functionality, and 7.0 for fast command-line builds without much trouble. 

TypeScript 6 and 7 will be available next year, and the latest previews are available on the Visual Studio Marketplace. 

• Ian Elliot is the author of Just JavaScript: An Idiomatic Approach; JavaScript Async;  Just jQuery: The Core UI; Just jQuery: Events, Async & AJAX and JavaScript Bitmap Graphics with Canvas. All these titles are part of the I Programmer Library published by I/O Press.

More Information

TypeScript On NuGet

TypeScript On GitHub

Visual Studio Code Marketplace

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