TypeScript to C++

TypeScript2Cxx (tsc-cxx) compiles TypeScript source into readable, dependency-light C++20 (a .h/.cpp pair per module). Generated code links against cpplib, a small header-only runtime that reproduces JavaScript semantics in C++ — any, string, number, object, array, closures, prototypal-style classes, and JS-flavored operators (==, +, truthiness, undefined/null) — so the output behaves like the original TypeScript, not like hand-ported C++.

License

TypeScript2Cxx is licensed under the MIT license.

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Prerequisites

• Node.js to build and run the compiler itself.
• A C++20 compiler to build the generated output: Visual Studio 2022/2026 (MSVC) or Clang++ (verified with 21.x).

Quick Start

1. Build Project

npm install
npm run build

2. Compile test.ts

create file test.ts

class Person {
    protected name: string;
    constructor(name: string) { this.name = name; }
}

class Employee extends Person {
    private department: string;

    constructor(name: string, department: string) {
        super(name);
        this.department = department;
    }

    public get ElevatorPitch() {
        return `Hello, my name is ${this.name} and I work in ${this.department}.`;
    }
}

const howard = new Employee("Howard", "Sales");
console.log(howard.ElevatorPitch);

node __out\main.js test.ts

Now you have test.cpp and test.h

test.h:

#ifndef TEST_H
#define TEST_H
#include "core.h"

using namespace js;

class Person;
class Employee;

class Person : public object, public std::enable_shared_from_this<Person> {
public:
    string name;

    Person(string name);
};

class Employee : public Person, public std::enable_shared_from_this<Employee> {
public:
    string department;

    Employee(string name, string department);
    virtual any get_ElevatorPitch();
    Employee(string name);
};

extern std::shared_ptr<Employee> howard;
#endif

test.cpp:

#include "test.h"

using namespace js;

Person::Person(string name) {
    this->name = name;
}

Employee::Employee(string name, string department) : Person(name) {
    this->department = department;
}

any Employee::get_ElevatorPitch()
{
    return "Hello, my name is "_S + this->name + " and I work in "_S + this->department + "."_S;
}

Employee::Employee(string name) : Person(name) {
}

std::shared_ptr<Employee> howard = std::make_shared<Employee>("Howard"_S, "Sales"_S);

void Main(void)
{
    console->log(howard->get_ElevatorPitch());
}

int main(int argc, char** argv)
{
    Main();
    return 0;
}

3. Compile it.

Visual Studio C++

cl /W3 /GR /EHsc /std:c++20 /Fe:test.exe /I ../cpplib test.cpp

or Clang++

clang++ -std=c++20 -Wno-switch -Wno-deprecated-declarations -I../cpplib test.cpp -o test.exe

4. Run it.

test.exe

Result:

Hello, my name is Howard and I work in Sales.

Enjoy it.

CLI Options

node __out\main.js [files...] [-options]

With no input files, the compiler reads tsconfig.json from the current directory.

Option	Description
-watch	Recompile on source changes (requires a tsconfig.json project).
-suppressOutput	Suppress compiler console output.
-run_on_compile <command>	Run <command> after a successful compile.

Running Tests

1. TypeScript compiler unit tests (spec/**/*.spec.ts)

npm test

2. C++ runtime (cpplib) test suite

The test/ folder contains a hand-maintained C++ test suite (test.cpp) that exercises cpplib/core.h directly, plus batch scripts to build and run it with either toolchain:

cd test
ms.bat          REM MSVC (Visual Studio), release
ms_d.bat        REM MSVC, debug
clang_build.bat REM Clang++, release

A successful run prints test OK! and exits with code 0.