Tapajyoti Bose

Posted on May 14, 2023 • Updated on Oct 24, 2023

7 Secret TypeScript Tricks Pros Use 😎🤫

#webdev #javascript #typescript #productivity

TypeScript is an outstanding tool to make our lives easier & avoiding bugs, yet sometimes feels overwhelming to use.

This article outlines 7 TypeScript tricks that will make your life easier which all pros use.

1. Type Inference

Typescript is smart enough to infer the data types when you help it narrow them down.

enum CounterActionType {
  Increment = "INCREMENT",
  IncrementBy = "INCREMENT_BY",
}

interface IncrementAction {
  type: CounterActionType.Increment;
}

interface IncrementByAction {
  type: CounterActionType.IncrementBy;
  payload: number;
}

type CounterAction =
  | IncrementAction
  | IncrementByAction;

function reducer(state: number, action: CounterAction) {
  switch (action.type) {
    case CounterActionType.Increment:
      // TS infers that the action is IncrementAction
      // & has no payload
      return state + 1;
    case CounterActionType.IncrementBy:
      // TS infers that the action is IncrementByAction
      // & has a number as a payload
      return state + action.payload;
    default:
      return state;
  }
}

As shown above, TypeScript infers the type of the action based on the type property, so you DON'T need to check whether payload exists.

2. Literal Types

Often you need specific values for a variable, that's where literal types come in handy.

type Status = "idle" | "loading" | "success" | "error";

It works for numbers too:

type Review = 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5;

// or better yet:
const reviewMap = {
  terrible: 1,
  average: 2,
  good: 3,
  great: 4,
  incredible: 5,
} as const;

// This will generate the same type as above,
// but it's much more maintainable
type Review = typeof reviewMap[keyof typeof reviewMap];

3. Type Guards

Type guards are another method to narrow down the type of a variable:

function isNumber(value: any): value is number {
  return typeof value === "number";
}

const validateAge = (age: any) => {
  if (isNumber(age)) {
    // validation logic
    // ...
  } else {
    console.error("The age must be a number");
  }
};

NOTE: In the example above, it's better to use:

const validateAge = (age: number) => {
  // ...
};

The example was a simplification to show how type guards work.

4. Index Signature

When you have dynamic keys in an object, you can use an index signature to define its type:

enum PaticipationStatus {
  Joined = "JOINED",
  Left = "LEFT",
  Pending = "PENDING",
}

interface ParticipantData {
  [id: string]: PaticipationStatus;
}

const participants: ParticipantData = {
  id1: PaticipationStatus.Joined,
  id2: PaticipationStatus.Left,
  id3: PaticipationStatus.Pending,
  // ...
};

5. Generics

Generics are a powerful tool to make your code more reusable. It allows you to define a type that will be determined by the use of your function.

In the following example, T is a Generic type:

const clone = <T>(object: T) => {
  const clonedObject: T = JSON.parse(JSON.stringify(object));
  return clonedObject;
};

const obj = {
  a: 1,
  b: {
    c: 3,
  },
};

const obj2 = clone(obj);

6. Immutable Types

You can make your types immutable by adding as const. This ensures that you don't end up accidentally changing the values.

const ErrorMessages = {
  InvalidEmail: "Invalid email",
  InvalidPassword: "Invalid password",
  // ...
} as const;

// This will throw an error
ErrorMessages.InvalidEmail = "New error message";

7. Partial, Pick, Omit & Required Types

Often while working with server & local data, you need to make some properties optional or required.

Instead of defining hundreds of interfaces with slightly altered versions of the same data. You can do that using Partial, Pick, Omit & Required types.

interface User {
  name: string;
  age?: number;
  email: string;
}

type PartialUser = Partial<User>;
type PickUser = Pick<User, "name" | "age">;
type OmitUser = Omit<User, "age">;
type RequiredUser = Required<User>;

// PartialUser is equivalent to:
// interface PartialUser {
//   name?: string;
//   age?: number;
//   email?: string;
// }

// PickUser is equivalent to:
// interface PickUser {
//   name: string;
//   age?: number;
// }

// OmitUser is equivalent to:
// interface OmitUser {
//   name: string;
//   email: string;
// }

// RequiredUser is equivalent to:
// interface RequiredUser {
//   name: string;
//   age: number;
//   email: string;
// }

And of course, you can use intersection to combine them:

type A = B & C;

Where B & C are any types.

That's all folks! 🎉

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FAQ

These are a few commonly asked questions I get. So, I hope this FAQ section solves your issues.

I am a beginner, how should I learn Front-End Web Dev?
Look into the following articles:
1. Front End Development Roadmap
2. Front End Project Ideas
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Top comments (23)

Randall • May 14 '23

Nice tips. In my opinion the main thing that separates pros from newbies is that pros turn on all the strict options and still manage to avoid as like the plague because they know a ton of tools like these to avoid it. Death to as!

insidewhy • May 15 '23

It's now generally recommended to write index signatures using Record e.g. type ParticipantData = Record<string, ParticipantStatus>.

Benny Code • May 16 '23

Great tips! I'd like to contribute one more suggestion. Instead of using "any" for typing inputs in your type guard, it's safer to use "unknown". This approach encourages you to first check if a parameter is of type object before accessing its properties. You can see this here: youtube.com/watch?v=p-YEN-9KnRo

Bret Bernhoft • May 14 '23

This is a nice summary of TypeScript tricks. Thank you for putting it together.

Using TypeScript has changed my approach to programming for the Web. And I'm grateful to have access to this technology.

GhulamHussainJoyo • May 15 '23

I was looking for this type of article. Where I can learn all about props types. Thanks for sharing

michTheBrandofficial • May 18 '23

Hello. Do you mean React prop types? What prop types exactly?

Maik • May 19 '23

Thank you for these tips. Especially the Partial, Pick, Omit & Required Types help me, as I only knew Partial<>, but I have a usecase for the other ones too.