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How To Set Up tsconfig [Part 1] by@barinbritva
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How To Set Up tsconfig [Part 1]

by Barin BritvaMay 12th, 2021
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This article is a guide for those who want to learn how to set up a TypeScript config. It’s not always easy to understand and how to sort out its numerous flags and learn some useful tricks. I’m a big fan of TypeScript and I prefer to write on TS rather than native JavaScript. In this article, I will not discuss the reasons for choosing TypeScript or its advantages and disadvantages. In the first part we'll talk about basic settings and in the second – different checks, i.e. tuning compiler strictness.

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I’m a big fan of TypeScript. Each new project I prefer to write on TS rather than native JavaScript. In this article, I will not discuss the reasons for choosing TypeScript or its advantages and disadvantages. I’d like this article to be a guide for those who want to learn how to set up

tsconfig
, to sort out its numerous flags and learn some useful tricks.

So, in this article I want to provide a revised and streamlined documentation summary, which I believe will be useful to those who are standing at the begging of their path to TypeScript or for those who didn't find time or energy to sort out the details and want to fill this gap.

When you’re opening official reference

tsconfig
you’ll see a full list of settings divided into groups. However, it doesn't allow you to understand what you should start with and which of these options are required and what can be skipped (for some time). Plus, some options are grouped by technical meaning, not logical. For example, some verification flags could be found in
Strict Checks
group, some in
Linter Checks
and others in
Advanced
group. It’s not always easy to understand.

All the options, just like the article itself, I divided into two groups – basic and “checks”. In the first part we'll talk about basic settings and in the second – different checks, i.e. tuning compiler strictness.

Tsconfig structure

Let’s have a look at the structure and some features of the config.

  • tsconfig.json
    has 2 parts. Some options must be specified in
    root
    and some of them in
    compilerOptions
  • tsconfig.json
    supports comments. Such IDE like WebStorm or Visual Studio understand this and do not highlight comments as a syntax error
  • tsconfig.json
    supports inheritance. Options can be divided according to some principle, described in different files and merged with the special directive

Here is a blank of

tsconfig.json
:

{
  // extends you to enrich options with other options from the specified file
  // we'll return to tsconfig-checks.json file in the next article
  "extends": "./tsconfig-checks.json",
  // project-specific options are based in config root
  "compilerOptions": {
    // all compiler related setting will be placed here
  }
}

root
options are:
extends
,
files
,
include
,
exclude
,
references
,
typeAcquisition
. Of these, we will consider the first 4. Other options are based in
compilerOptions
.

Sometimes some options like

compileOnSave
and
ts-node
can be placed in
root
section. These options are not official and can be used by IDE for its needs.

Root section

extends

Type: string | false, default: false.

Specifies the path to the file from which to inherit options. For the most part it serves as an organizing tool. Options can be divided according to some logic so that they don’t mix. For example, move config strict settings to separate file the way it’s shown in the config draft. However, given the support of comments in

tsconfig.json
this can be done much easier.

{
  "compilerOptions": {
    // basic settings block
    
    // strict settings block
  }
}

Let’s have a look at another use-case where comments can’t be a solution. If we need to create production and development configs. This is how

tsconfig-dev.json
version can look:

{
  "extends": "./tsconfig.json",
  "compilerOptions": {
    // redefining setting needed for dev env only
    "sourceMap": true,
    "watch": true
  }
}

In general, I recommend using

extends
. But don't break setting too much. This can become confusing. Due to the fact that multiple inheritance is not supported.

In case of using this option to see the final merged config version use command

tsc --showConfig
.

files

Type: string[] | false, default: false, related to

include
.

You can specify a list of specific files for compilation using this option.

{
  "compilerOptions": {},
  "files": [
    "core.ts",
    "app.ts"
  ]
}

This option will be useful for only small projects with several files.

include

Type string[], default: depends on

files
, related to
exclude
.

If option

files
is not set up TypeScript will use this directive to search for files to compile. If
include
is not declared too then its value will be set up as
["**/*"]
by default. This means that the search for files will be carried out in all folders and their subfolders. This behavior is not optimal, so for performance reasons it’s best to always specify paths. There can be paths to specific files or path patterns.

{
  "compilerOptions": {},
  "include": [
    "src/**/*",
    "tests/**/*"
  ]
}

If patterns don’t include specific extensions TypeScript will look for

.ts
,
.tsx
and
.d.ts
files. And if
allowJs
flag is enabled - then
.js
and
.jsx
files also.

These formats are doing the same

src
,
./src
,
src/**/*
. I prefer
./src
.

Technically using

include
and
exclude
options TypeScript will create a list of all matched files and place it to
files
. You can check it by running
tsc --showConfig
command.

exclude

Type: string[], default: ["node_modules", "bower_components", "jspm_packages"].

This directive can be used to exclude unnecessary paths of files that was added by

include
directive. By default, the option is set to the paths of the
npm
,
bower
and
jspm
package managers, since the modules are already built in them. Besides TypeScript will ignore this folder from
outDir
option if it was added. This is the folder where the collected built artifacts are placed. It is logical for them to be excluded. To add your values to this option it’s necessary to restore the defaults. Because user’s values are not merging with default values. In other words, you need to manually specify the root of your package manager modules.

{
  "compilerOptions": {},
  "exclude": [
    "node_modules",
    "./src/**/*.spec.ts"
  ]
}

exclude
option can’t exclude files added by using
files
option.

exclude 
option can’t exclude files that imported in other files which are not excluded.

compilerOptions section

target

Type: string, default:

ES3
, affects options
lib
,
module
.

The version of ECMAScript standard in which code will be compiled. Has a lot of choices:

ES3
,
ES5
,
ES6
(same as
ES2015
),
ES2016
,
ES2017
,
ES2018
,
ES2019
,
ES2020
,
ESNext
. For backend apps/packages
ES6
is okay if you’re using only modern versions of
Node.js
and
ES5
, to support the older versions.
ES6
is supported by at the moment. So, the situation for frontend apps is the same.

module

Type: string, default: depends on

target
, affects the option
moduleResolution
.

A modular system that your compiled application will use. You can choose:

None
,
CommonJS
,
AMD
,
System
,
UMD
,
ES6
,
ES2015
,
ES2020
or
ESNext
. For backend apps/packages
ES6
or
CommonJS
is suitable depending on
Node.js
version you want to support. For frontend apps ES6 is also suitable. And for support of older browsers and isomorphic applications, is definitely worth choosing.

If your situation is not so easy or you want to know all the intricacies of modular systems, then you need to learn the .

moduleResolution

Type: string, default: depends on

module
.

A strategy will be used for modules import. Includes only two options:

node
and
classic
. But
classic
won't be using in 99% of cases cause it’s legacy. However, I specifically mentioned this flag as it changes depending on the previous flag. Changing value of
module
option
moduleResolution
mode can be switched to
classic
and the console will start to display error messages on the lines with imports.

To avoid this situation, I recommend that you always explicitly specify the

node
value for this flag.

lib

Type: string[], default: depends on

target
.

TypeScript includes typings (

*.d.ts-files
) to support the corresponding specifications depending on which
target
is set in the config. For example, if your
target
is set up to
ES6
TypeScript will include support of
array.find
and other options that are in this standard. But when
target
is set up to
ES5
find
method can’t be used because it’s not available in this JavaScript version. Polyfills can be added. However, in order for TypeScript to understand that this functionality can now be used, it is necessary to include the related typings in the
lib
section. Also, you can connect the entire
ES2015
standard or its part
ES2015.Core
(only
find
,
findIndex
etc. methods).

Sure it’s better to include typings only for the functionality for which polyfills were previously installed.

For --target ES5 will be lined up: DOM, ES5, ScriptHost
For --target ES6: DOM, ES6, DOM.Iterable, ScriptHost

The defaults are reset at the time you’re adding anything to

lib
. It’s necessary to manually add what you need, for example
DOM
:

{
  "compilerOptions": {
    "target": "ES5",
    "lib": [
      "DOM",
      "ES2015.Core"
    ]
  }
}

outDir

Type: string, default: equals a root directory.

The final folder where the collected artifacts will be placed. There are:

.js
,
.d.ts
, and
.js.map
files. If no value was set for this option, then all the above files will be copying the structure of the source files at the root of your project. In this case it’ll create difficulties with deleting previous builds and describing
.gitignore
files. As a result, the code base will look like a dump. My advice is to put all artifacts in one folder which may be easily deleted or ignored by the version control system.

If you leave

outDir
option empty:

├── module
│   └── core.js
│   └── core.ts
├── index.js
└── index.ts

If you specify

outDir
:

├── dist
│   └── module
│   |   └── core.js
│   └── index.js
├── module
│   └── core.ts
└── index.ts

outFile

Type: string, default: none.

According to the description this option allows to unite all files into one. It seems that bundlers like

webpack
are no longer needed... However, this option works only if
None
,
System
, or
AMD
value set up for
module
. Much to our regret, the option won't work with
CommonJS
or
ES6
modules. Therefore, you probably won't need to use
outFile
. Since the option looks so attractive, but does not work as expected, I decided to warn you about this giant pitfall.

allowSyntheticDefaultImports

Type: boolean, default: depends on

module
or
esModuleInterop
.

If one of the libraries doesn't have

default import
such loaders as
ts-loader
or
babel-loader
will create it automatically. But
d.ts-files
files of this library don't know anything about it. This flag allows compiler to write like this:

// instead of this import
import * as React from 'react';
// you can use this
import React from 'react';

It's a default option when flag

esModuleInterop
is enabled or
module
=== "system".

esModuleInterop

Type: boolean, default: false.

By adding a boilerplate to the output code, it allows you to import

CommonJS
packages as
ES6
.

// moment library exporting only like CommonJS
// trying to import it as ES6
import Moment from 'moment';

// without esModuleInterop flag the result is undefined
console.log(Moment);

// with esModuleInterop flag result is [object Object]
console.log(Moment);

This flag by dependency activates

allowSyntheticDefaultImports
. Together they help to get rid of lots of different imports and write it uniformly across the project.

alwaysStrict

Type: boolean, default: depends on

strict
.

Compiler will parse the code in

strict mode
and add
“use strict”
to output files.

false by default but if flag

strict
enabled then true.

downlevelIteration

Type: boolean, default: false.

ES6
specification added new syntax for iteration: cycle
for / of
,
array spread
,
arguments spread
. If the project code is compiled to
ES5
then construction with cycle
for / of
will be converted to common
for
:

// es6 code
const str = 'Hello!';
for (const s of str) {
  console.log(s);
}
// es5 code without downlevelIteration
var str = "Hello!";
for (var _i = 0, str_1 = str; _i < str_1.length; _i++) {
  var s = str_1[_i];
  console.log(s);
}

But some symbols like

emoji
are encoded with two characters. It means that such a transformation will not work as expected in some places.
downlevelIteration
flag generates more verbose and more "correct", but less productive code. This code is huge so I won't take up space on the screen. You can find an example here - - and choose
target -> es5
,
downlevelIteration -> true
in settings.

The browser must have an implementation of

Symbol.iterator
to make this flag work. Otherwise, you'll need to set up polyfill.

forceConsistentCasingInFileNames

Type: boolean, default: false.

Enables case-sensitive mode for files import. Thereby even in case-insensitive file systems trying to make

import FileManager from './FileManager.ts'
will fail if the file is actually named
fileManager.ts
. It doesn't hurt to play it safe. TypeScript is all about strictness.

compilerOptions
section options which are not needed in every project

declaration

Type: boolean, default: false.

By enabling this flag, in addition to JavaScript files, annotation files known as

d.ts
files or typings will be generated for them.

Due to typings it becomes possible to define types for already compiled js files. Other words code is compiling to

js
and types to
d.ts
-files. This can be useful if you're publishing your package to
npm
. All developers can use this library whether they're using native JavaScript or TypeScript.

declarationDir

Type: string, default: none, related to

declaration
.

Typings are generated next to

js
-files as a default. Using this option you can redirect all
d.ts
files to a separate folder.

emitDeclarationOnly

Type: boolean, default: false, related to

declaration
.

If for some reason you only need the

d.ts
files, then enabling this flag will prevent the generation of
js
files.

allowJs

Type: boolean, default: false.

This flag will help you to port your JavaScript project to TypeScript. By enabling

allowJs
flag you'll make TypeScript compiler process not only
ts
but also
js
files. There is no need to migrate the whole project before continuing the development. You can do it file by file changing their extensions and adding types to them. And the new functionality can be written directly in TypeScript.

checkJs

Type: boolean, default: false, related to

allowJs
.

TypeScript will check for errors not in

ts
but in
js
files also. In addition to the built-in typings for JavaScript language constructs, the TS compiler can also use jsDoc to parse files. I prefer not to use this flag but to put the code in order when I add types to it. However, if your project has good jsDoc code coverage, it's worth giving it a try.

Since version 4.1 when

checkJs
is enabled,
allowJs
flag is automatically enabled.

experimentalDecorators
and
emitDecoratorMetadata

Type: boolean, default: false.

– is a common OOP pattern. It’s possible to implement it using classical approach by writing wrappers. But using the flags mentioned above, you can enable experimental decorator syntax. This syntax allows you to decorate classes, their methods and properties, access modifiers and function arguments using simple , which is widespread in many programming languages.

The

experimentalDecorators
flag just activates the syntax, and
emitDecoratorMetadata
provides decorators with additional metadata at runtime, with which you can significantly expand the scope of this feature.

To make

emitDecoratorMetadata
work you need to add library.

resolveJsonModule

Type: boolean, default: false.

Flag allows to enable ability to import

*.json
files. No additional installation is required.

// .json extension must be specified
import config from './config.json'

jsx

Type: string, default: none.

If the project uses React, you need to enable

jsx
support. In most cases
react
or
react-native
option will be enough. It is also possible to leave the
jsx-code
untouched with the
preserve
option or use the custom converters
react-jsx
and
react-jsxdev
.

Wrapping up the 1st part

In this article I wrote about the most important flags and options that can be useful in the vast majority of projects. In the next part I'll talk about compiler strict settings. I will add a link after publishing.

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