Compiled JavaScript Files Not Appearing In Visual Studio Project

Question

I'm using TypeScript 0.9.5 and when I add a TypeScript file, I no longer see the compiled JavaScript file or the generated source maps in Visual Studio solution explorer.

Where have my JavaScript files gone?

Answer 1

Because the generated files are like binaries, they shouldn't really be part of your project or be added to source control.

In previous versions of TypeScript, having the files in the project / under source control could cause issues on build servers in cases where the build server was averse to changing files that are under source control.

Another problem caused by having the files in the project / under source control is that even if you don't change your TypeScript file, the generated files are re-created on build and are picked up by source control clients as being changes. These would all show as revisions if you checked them in (or you'd have to manually exclude the changes to avoid polluting your source control repository).

The new treatment of the generated files makes them more like your .NET DLLs - they get generated on the build server (and locally on your disk) but you don't need them in source-control.