i wrote my framework in go, then rewrote it in typescript

brick was a go framework before it was a typescript one.

the go version answered api calls in 1 to 2 milliseconds. sometimes under 1. the typescript version takes 10 to 50.

i switched anyway.

what the go version was

i built it as deep as the typescript one: resources, a yaml dsl, codegen, a query layer, a runtime, auth, a deploy to vercel. it ran on huma, so you could bring your own router.

this was the second time i wrote it. thats why the git history shows six milestones landing in about an hour on sep 15. a lot of that code was copied over from the first attempt.

var Deal = brick.Resource("deal", brick.Schema{
    Fields: brick.Fields{
        "title":  brick.String().Required().Searchable().MaxLen(500),
        "amount": brick.Int().Filterable().Sortable(),
        "status": brick.Enum("open", "won", "lost").Default("open"),
    },
})

the speed was great. it is the only thing i miss.

where it started to feel wrong

too much depended on codegen. in go you define the schema, run the generator, get typed structs, then write hooks against them. every step needs the step before it.

typescript does not have that problem. types are inferred from the definition. you save the file and the type is already there. no generator, no _gen files.

why i switched

not because go was bad. three reasons.

• i build faster in typescript. i know the ecosystem very well. in go i was slower.
• inference over codegen. no generate step between the schema and the code that uses it.
• better auth. in go i had to write the auth library myself. i spent sep 26 to 28 on email and password auth, a jwt plugin, and closing gaps with better auth’s oauth provider. in typescript i could just use better auth.

the rewrite took five days. oct 3 was the first day of the new repo, with 34 commits.

what changed

only the language, and a better api for whoever builds a backend on it. the framework itself is the same idea.

what i left behind

i dont miss anything from go except the speed. typescript’s ecosystem makes up for most of it.

if something in the library gets slow, i may replace that piece in go or rust. i have no plan for that now.

if you are about to rewrite

dont rewrite if it works. mine worked.

my reason was narrow: i am much faster in typescript. if you cant say your reason that clearly, dont do it.