Welcome! I’m Kees (pronounced like ‘case’ 💼) Bakker. I’m thrilled to kick off a new series called 100 Days of TypeScript for Design Engineers. This is Day 1, and I’m excited to embark on this learning journey with you 🥳. Let’s dive into TypeScript and see how it can transform our design workflows. Here’s to learning and growing together!

As a design engineer, you know the frustration of unexpected bugs appearing out of nowhere. Maybe you’ve wasted hours debugging, only to find that a tiny typo was the culprit. Enter TypeScript – the superhero of coding that can save you time, reduce errors, and streamline your workflow.

What is TypeScript?

• It’s a programming language developed and maintained by Microsoft.
• It’s a superset of JavaScript, meaning it includes all of JavaScript’s features plus additional ones.
• TypeScript was introduced in 2012 to address some of JavaScript’s limitations, particularly in large-scale applications.

Key Features of TypeScript

🛡️📝 Static Typing

Static typing acts like a shield, protecting your code by ensuring that variables and functions adhere to defined types. Unlike JavaScript, TypeScript lets you define types for your variables. This means fewer bugs and a smoother debugging process.

let item: string = "Apple";
item = 50; // Error: Type 'number' is not assignable to type 'string'.

🔍✨ Type Inference

TypeScript’s type inference determines the type of your variables based on the values you assign to them. This means less boilerplate code and a cleaner, more readable codebase.

For instance, if you declare a variable with a value:

let count = 100; // inferred as number

TypeScript infers that count is of type number. This reduces the need for manual type annotations and keeps your code concise and clean.

🧩📏 Interfaces

Interfaces in TypeScript help define the shape of an object, ensuring that it adheres to a specific structure.

interface Product {
  name: string;
  price: number;
}

let product: Product = {
  name: "Apple",
  price: 1.99
};

By using interfaces, you can create more robust and maintainable code, making collaboration with developers a breeze.

🏷️🗂️ Types

In TypeScript, a type is a keyword used to define the shape of data. Using types in your code allows you to categorize and label your variables and functions, ensuring they conform to specified formats. This helps reduce the likelihood of errors in your code ✅.

Defining a Type

Here’s how you can define a simple type for a person object:

type Person = {
  name: string;
  age: number;
  email?: string; // Optional property
};

let person: Person = {
  name: "Kees Bakker",
  age: 101
};

console.log(person);

TypeScript not only helps prevent errors and improve code readability but also enhances collaboration and makes refactoring safer.

Give TypeScript a try in your next project, and stay tuned for more tips and tricks in our 100 Days of TypeScript series!

Kees Bakker