Integrating Typescript with Popular JavaScript Libraries and Frameworks (e.g. React, Angular)

Typescript is a popular static type checking language that can be used with many JavaScript libraries and frameworks to provide an extra layer of type safety and organization to your code. In this article, we will explore how to integrate Typescript with two popular libraries: React and Angular.

Integrating Typescript with Angular

One of the most popular JavaScript frameworks for building web applications is Angular. Angular is built with Typescript and it is very easy to integrate Typescript with your Angular projects. In fact, when you create a new Angular project using the Angular CLI, it comes with Typescript support by default.

To start using Typescript with an existing Angular project, you need to install the Typescript compiler. You can do this by running the following command:

npm install -g typescript

Next, you need to create a tsconfig.json file in the root directory of your project. This file is used to configure the Typescript compiler and tells it how to transpile your Typescript code into JavaScript. You can create a basic tsconfig.json file by running the following command:

tsc --init

Once you have your tsconfig.json file set up, you can start using Typescript in your Angular project by renaming your .js files to .ts and adding types to your variables and functions.

For example, instead of this:

function add(a, b) {
  return a + b;
}

You can write this:

function add(a: number, b: number): number {
  return a + b;
}

By adding types to your variables and functions, you can catch type errors at compile time instead of runtime. This can save you a lot of time debugging and makes your code easier to maintain.

Integrating Typescript with React

React is another popular JavaScript library for building user interfaces. It is not built with Typescript, but it is very easy to integrate Typescript with your React projects.

To start using Typescript with a React project, you need to install the necessary dependencies. You can do this by running the following command:

npm install -D @babel/preset-typescript @types/react @types/react-dom

Next, you need to create a tsconfig.json file in the root directory of your project. This file is used to configure the Typescript compiler and tells it how to transpile your Typescript code into JavaScript. You can create a basic tsconfig.json file by running the following command:

tsc --init

Once you have your tsconfig.json file set up, you can start using Typescript in your React project by renaming your .js files to .ts and adding types to your variables and functions.

For example, instead of this:

function Hello({ name }) {
  return <div>Hello, {name}</div>;
}

You can write this:

function Hello({ name }: { name: string }): JSX.Element {
  return <div>Hello, {name}</div>;
}

By adding types to your variables and functions, you can catch type errors at compile time instead of runtime. This can save you a lot of time debugging and makes your code easier to maintain.

Conclusion

In conclusion, Typescript is a powerful tool that can help you write safer and more maintainable code, especially when working with large projects or teams. Whether you are using it with React, Angular, or any other JavaScript library or framework, integrating Typescript into your workflow can provide many benefits and make your development experience more enjoyable.

Exercises

To review these concepts, we will go through a series of exercises designed to test your understanding and apply what you have learned.

ng new my-project --style=scss --routing

ng new my-project --style=scss --routing --strict

npx create-react-app my-project --template=typescript

vue create my-project

ember new my-project --yarn --typescript

git clone https://github.com/angular/angular-seed.git my-project
cd my-project
npm install