Getting Started with TypeScript Types

TypeScript supports various types including string, number, boolean, enum, Array, tuple, void, null, and undefined. These are the same types supported by JavaScript, however, TypeScript can also perform type checking. This guide provides an introduction to common TypeScript types with examples on how to create each type.

Primitive Types

The three essential primitive types in JavaScript and TypeScript are string, number, and boolean.

Note

All three primitive types are spelled in lower-case. There are capitalized variants of these words that compile successfully in TypeScript. These are referred to as boxed types. When a primitive type is boxed it is “wrapped” in an object and can then behave like an object.

The example TypeScript code below demonstrates how to assign values of all three primitive types to variables.

File: example.ts

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//strings var s1: string; //declared const s2 = "Hello, world!"; //inferred let s3: string = "Alice"; //both //numbers var n1: number; //declared const n2 = 42; //inferred const pi = 3.14159; //inferred let n3: number = n2 * pi; //both function FtoC (f: number) { //declared to enable input type checking return (f - 32.) * 5. / 9. } //booleans var b1: boolean; //declared const b2 = true; //inferred let b3: boolean = !true; //both (!true == false)

When the TypeScript code is compiled to JavaScript, all the type annotations are stripped out, as shown in the JavaScript example below. If you’re targeting the lowest levels of JavaScript, both const and let are changed to var. If you’re targeting ES6(2015) or greater, they are left as written. In TypeScript and ES6+, let is a block-scoped version of var, and const creates a block-scoped variable that can’t be changed once it is bound.

File: example.js

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//strings var s1; //declared var s2 = "Hello, world!"; //inferred var s3 = "Alice"; //both //numbers var n1; //declared var n2 = 42; //inferred var pi = 3.14159; //inferred var n3 = n2 * pi; //both function FtoC(f) { return (f - 32.)* 5. / 9.; } //booleans var b1; //declared var b2 = true; //inferred var b3 = !true; //both

Note

You don’t actually get an immutable variable when you use const. To do that, declare an object member readonly.

The Any Type

A variable of type any can store any type. The main reason to use the any type is to prevent TypeScript from throwing type-checking errors for that variable.

Caution

Before using any, consider the alternatives of explicit unions and narrowing.

If you don’t declare a type, and the type can’t be inferred, the variable is set as the any type by default. The syntax to declare the any type is as follows:

var a1: any;

There’s a secondary reason to use the any type; to write a function that accepts multiple types. It’s much better to use Generics to create a function that accepts different types instead of a single type, however, you can also use any, as shown in the following example:

File: example.ts

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function wideOpen(x: any) { //do something to x that doesn't depend on its type return x; }

By default, TypeScript infers an any type for any variable that has neither a declared type nor enough context to infer a type. To disable that, use the noImplicitAny or --strict TypeScript compiler flag. You can refer to the full list of TypeScript compiler options.

tsc --noImplicitAny my_file.ts

TypeScript Arrays

There are two ways you can declare an array in TypeScript. They are as follow:

1. Using square brackets.

    //arrays
    let arr1: number[];         //declared
    let arr2 = [1,2,3];         //inferred
    let arr3 = ["one","two","three"];
   

2. Using Generics, i.e., the Array<Type> as shown below:

    let arr1: Array<string> = ['one', 'two', 'three'];
   

Object Types

In TypeScript, you can create types from other types. The most common way to do this is with objects. Objects can be anonymous, type aliases, or interfaces.

Note

Notice the difference in syntax when declaring an interface and a type alias. An interface declaration does not make use of the = sign.

File: object_types_example.ts

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//objects //interface interface IP4i { dns_name: string; ip_address: [number,number,number,number]; protocol?: string; } //type alias type IP4t = { dns_name: string; ip_address: [number,number,number,number]; protocol?: string; }

Optional properties are denoted with a question mark (?) after the member name, as shown for the protocol members in the example above.

Unions and Narrowing

Unions are denoted by a vertical bar ('|') and allow for more than one type, often as an input parameter to a function. You can’t apply type-dependent code to a union until your code narrows down which of the allowed types have been input. Consider the following example:

File: unions_example.ts

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function welcomePeople(x: string[] | string) { //x is a union //Narrowing logic if (Array.isArray(x)) { // Here: 'x' is 'string[]' console.log("Hello, " + x.join(" and ")); } else { // Here: 'x' is 'string' console.log("Welcome lone traveler " + x); } } welcomePeople("Moe"); welcomePeople(["Moe","Larry”,"Curly"]);

When you run the code, you get the following log output:

[LOG]: "Welcome lone traveler Moe"

[LOG]: "Hello, Moe and Larry and Curly"

More Information

This guide provides an introduction to commonly used types in TypeScript with brief examples to help you get started. To learn more about TypeScript types and their individual implementation details, refer to the Everyday Types page on the TypeScript documentation site.