writing-typescript

TypeScript Development (2025)

Core Principles

• Strict typing: Enable all strict checks
• Parse, don't validate: Transform untrusted data at boundaries
• Composition over inheritance: Small, focused functions
• Explicit over implicit: No any, prefer unknown

Toolchain

bun          # Runtime + package manager (fast)
vite         # Frontend bundling
vitest       # Testing
eslint       # Linting
prettier     # Formatting

Quick Patterns

Type Guards

function isUser(value: unknown): value is User {
  return typeof value === "object" && value !== null && "id" in value;
}

Discriminated Unions

type Result<T, E = Error> = { ok: true; value: T } | { ok: false; error: E };

function processResult<T>(result: Result<T>): T {
  if (result.ok) return result.value;
  throw result.error;
}

Utility Types

type UserUpdate = Partial<User>;
type UserSummary = Pick<User, "id" | "name">;
type UserWithoutPassword = Omit<User, "password">;
type ReadonlyUser = Readonly<User>;

tsconfig.json Essentials

{
  "compilerOptions": {
    "target": "ES2022",
    "module": "ESNext",
    "moduleResolution": "bundler",
    "strict": true,
    "noUncheckedIndexedAccess": true,
    "exactOptionalPropertyTypes": true,
    "noImplicitReturns": true,
    "isolatedModules": true
  }
}

References

• PATTERNS.md - Code patterns and style
• REACT.md - React component patterns
• TESTING.md - Testing with vitest

Commands

bun install              # Install deps
bun run build            # Build
bun test                 # Test
bun run lint             # Lint
bun run format           # Format

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Gotchas

• import type with verbatimModuleSyntax and named exports: type-only import of a value triggers errors. Fix: import { type Foo } from "mod" (inline marker).
• as const on object: readonly AND literal-narrowed — different from as Foo (asserts type) or satisfies Foo (validates without widening).
• satisfies validates without widening; as widens — using as where you wanted satisfies loses literal types silently.
• Array<T>.includes(x) requires x to be of type T — narrowing-from-union doesn't work; the standard fix is a type-predicate helper.
• strictNullChecks: false makes T mean T | null | undefined for ALL types — partial migrations leave types that lie about nullability.
• tsconfig.json extends doesn't recursively merge compilerOptions.paths — child paths REPLACE parent paths, not merge.