The Loop

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TypeScript 5.2 is now available and comes with several important updates and new features. Its most notable addition is support for ECMAScript’s upcoming Explicit Resource Management feature, which seeks to address resource allocation and the ability to explicitly release critical resources. Here’s what to know about the latest version of TypeScript:

• The new using keyword can be used to dispose of anything with a Symbol.dispose function when it leaves scope (Symbol.dispose is a new global symbol in JavaScript that denotes resources)
• This using keyword thereby becomes extremely useful for managing resources like file handles, database connections, etc.
• Decorator functions now have access to a new metadata property on their context object; this property holds a simple object that can be used as a dictionary updated by each decorator
• In response to ECMAScript’s “Change Array By Copy” proposal, TS 5.2 will include definitions for new array copy methods

The September 2023 release of Visual Studio Code (version 1.83) includes several important updates, many of which are related to Copilot Chat:

• The GitHub Copilot Chat extension’s `/test` command has an improved ability to detect a user’s testing framework and generate tests in the same style
• The extensions’s ability to suggest names for new test files has also been improved
• Inline chat now saves all of a current sessions prompts, giving users the ability to view previous messages and reply to questions
• In response to user feedback, the Ask GitHub Copilot option now defaults to the chat view when a user chooses to use it from the Command Palette
• The Command Palette now has a Similar Command feature that aids users in finding the command they are looking for

ChatGPT continues to improve and introduce new features. Here ares some of its new release notes:

• The browsing feature is moving out of beta; Plus and Enterprise users will no longer need to switch the beta toggle to browse, and will be able to choose the “Browse with Bing” option from the GPT-4 model selector
• A new voice recognition feature is in Beta for Plus users on iOS and Android; users will be able to have a back-and-forth conversation with ChatGPT
• A new ChatGPT Enterprise product is launching, which features enterprise-grade security and privacy, unlimited high-speed GPT-4 access, longer context windows for longer input processing, customization options, and more
• DALL-E 3 integration will allow ChatGPT to generate images as responses to prompts

The popular server-side database library Prisma has launched its latest version, which includes some exciting updates:

• Prisma now offers Preview support for the Neon and PlanetScale serverless database drivers; it also offers early access support for Turso, an edge-hosted distributed database that’s based on libSQL
• Prisma’s support for serverless databases creates new opportunities for cost and performance optimization
• Prisma now offers enhanced database connectivity options with HTTP and WebSocket protocols

The latest version of Node.js comes with built-in .env file support. That means no more need for modules like dotenv!

• You can now access your environment variables out of the box (e.g. using the variable process.env.PASSWORD when your application is initialized with PASSWORD=nodejs)
• This change allows you to define NODE_OPTIONS directly in the .env file as well

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The Loop is written and edited by Hank Mason, John Kaufmann, Noah Gribbin, Victoria Lebel, Chris Breen, and Marie Stotz.