How Microsoft’s Native TypeScript Compiler Slashes Build Times to Seconds
Microsoft’s TypeScript team unveiled a native‑code preview of the compiler, called Corsa, built in Go, promising dramatic performance gains, faster VS Code loading, new AI‑assisted type checking, and a roadmap to a full‑featured command‑line compiler by the end of 2025.
Announcement of a Native TypeScript Compiler
Microsoft’s TypeScript team, led by Anders Hejlsberg, released a preview of a native‑code version of the TypeScript compiler, codenamed Corsa . The port, written in Go, delivers massive performance improvements, including a new language service that speeds up project compilation and loading, and enables new AI features in Visual Studio Code.
Why a Native Port?
Large projects have hit memory limits with the JavaScript‑based compiler, and the team believes they have reached the limits of what JavaScript can provide. Go was chosen because it offers optimized native code, good data layout control, garbage‑collected memory management, and strong concurrency support, making the port smoother than a C# rewrite.
Impact on Developers
In Microsoft’s own large TypeScript codebase—VS Code with about 1.5 million lines of code—the new compiler reduced compilation time from just over a minute to under six seconds. VS Code users will see faster project loading, quicker wave‑underline diagnostics, and immediate type‑checking of large‑language‑model (LLM) outputs.
New Language Service and LSP
The TypeScript language service now follows the Language Server Protocol (LSP), a first for the team, allowing different editors to interact with the service via a standardized API. This change also opens possibilities for future refactoring and tooling improvements.
Open Source and Roadmap
Corsa is released under the Apache 2.0 license on GitHub ( https://github.com/microsoft/typescript-go ). Hejlsberg expects a fully‑featured command‑line compiler to ship by the end of 2025 as part of TypeScript 7.0, while the existing JavaScript‑based compiler will continue as TypeScript 6.0. Both will be maintained until newer versions reach sufficient maturity and adoption.
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