TypeScript Patterns

Modern TypeScript 5.x patterns and best practices.

Strict Configuration

{
  "compilerOptions": {
    "strict": true,
    "noUncheckedIndexedAccess": true,
    "exactOptionalPropertyTypes": true,
    "noImplicitOverride": true,
    "noPropertyAccessFromIndexSignature": true
  }
}

Type Safety Patterns

Discriminated Unions

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

function divide(a: number, b: number): Result<number> {
  if (b === 0) return { ok: false, error: new Error('Division by zero') };
  return { ok: true, value: a / b };
}

const result = divide(10, 2);
if (result.ok) {
  console.log(result.value); // TypeScript narrows to number
}

Branded Types (Prevent ID Mixing)

type UserId = string & { readonly __brand: 'UserId' };
type OrderId = string & { readonly __brand: 'OrderId' };

const userId = 'u123' as UserId;
const orderId = 'o456' as OrderId;

function getUser(id: UserId) { /* ... */ }
getUser(userId);   // OK
getUser(orderId);  // Type error - can't mix IDs

Exhaustive Matching

type Shape = { kind: 'circle'; radius: number }
            | { kind: 'square'; side: number }
            | { kind: 'triangle'; base: number; height: number };

function area(shape: Shape): number {
  switch (shape.kind) {
    case 'circle': return Math.PI * shape.radius ** 2;
    case 'square': return shape.side ** 2;
    case 'triangle': return (shape.base * shape.height) / 2;
    default: {
      const _exhaustive: never = shape;
      throw new Error(`Unhandled shape: ${_exhaustive}`);
    }
  }
}

Const Assertions

const ROUTES = {
  home: '/',
  users: '/users',
  settings: '/settings',
} as const;

type Route = typeof ROUTES[keyof typeof ROUTES];
// Type: "/" | "/users" | "/settings"

Utility Type Patterns

Safe Partial Updates

function updateUser(id: string, updates: Partial<Omit<User, 'id' | 'createdAt'>>) {
  // Can only update mutable fields
}

Builder Pattern with Types

type Builder<T, Built = {}> = {
  set<K extends keyof T>(key: K, value: T[K]): Builder<Omit<T, K>, Built & Pick<T, K>>;
  build(): Built extends T ? T : never;
};

Runtime Validation (Zod)

import { z } from 'zod';

const UserSchema = z.object({
  id: z.string().uuid(),
  name: z.string().min(1).max(100),
  email: z.string().email(),
  role: z.enum(['admin', 'user', 'viewer']),
});

type User = z.infer<typeof UserSchema>;

// Validate at runtime boundaries
function createUser(input: unknown): User {
  return UserSchema.parse(input);
}

Async Patterns

Type-Safe Fetch

async function fetchJson<T>(url: string, schema: z.ZodSchema<T>): Promise<Result<T>> {
  try {
    const response = await fetch(url);
    if (!response.ok) {
      return { ok: false, error: new Error(`HTTP ${response.status}`) };
    }
    const data = await response.json();
    return { ok: true, value: schema.parse(data) };
  } catch (error) {
    return { ok: false, error: error instanceof Error ? error : new Error(String(error)) };
  }
}

Checklist

• strict: true in tsconfig.json
• No any types (use unknown for untyped data)
• Discriminated unions for variant types
• Branded types for domain IDs
• Zod schemas at system boundaries
• as const for literal constants
• Exhaustive switch statements with never check
• Utility types (Partial, Pick, Omit) for derived types