TypeScript Utility Types

TypeScript comes with a large number of types that can help with some common type manipulation, usually referred to as utility types

Partial

Partial changes all the properties in an object to be optional.

Example

interface Point {
  x: number;
  y: number;
}

let pointPart: Partial<Point> = {}; // `Partial` allows x and y to be optional
pointPart.x = 10;

Required

Required changes all the properties in an object to be required.

Example

interface Car {
  make: string;
  model: string;
  mileage?: number;
}

let myCar: Required<Car> = {
  make: 'Ford',
  model: 'Focus',
  mileage: 12000 // `Required` forces mileage to be defined
};

Record

Record is a shortcut to defining an object type with a specific key type and value type.

Example

const nameAgeMap: Record<string, number> = {
  'Alice': 21,
  'Bob': 25
};

Record<string, number> is equivalent to { [key: string]: number }

Omit

Omit removes keys from an object type.

Example

interface Person {
  name: string;
  age: number;
  location?: string;
}

const bob: Omit<Person, 'age' | 'location'> = {
  name: 'Bob'
  // `Omit` has removed age and location from the type and they can't be defined here
};

Pick

Pick removes all but the specified keys from an object type.

Example

interface Person {
  name: string;
  age: number;
  location?: string;
}

const bob: Pick<Person, 'name'> = {
  name: 'Bob'
  // `Pick` has only kept name, so age and location were removed from the type and they can't be defined here
};

Exclude

Exclude removes types from a union.

Example

type Primitive = string | number | boolean
const value: Exclude<Primitive, string> = true; // a string cannot be used here since Exclude removed it from the type.

ReturnType

ReturnType extracts the return type of a function type.

Example

type PointGenerator = () => { x: number; y: number; };
const point: ReturnType<PointGenerator> = {
  x: 10,
  y: 20
};

Parameters

Parameters extracts the parameter types of a function type as an array.

Example

type PointPrinter = (p: { x: number; y: number; }) => void;
const point: Parameters<PointPrinter>[0] = {
  x: 10,
  y: 20
};

TypeScript Exercises

Test Yourself With Exercises

Exercise:

Declare an object kindPerson from the Person interface, where all the properties are optional:

interface Person {
    age: number;
    firstName: string;
    lastName: string;
}
            
let :  = {};

Start the Exercise