Lesson 6 • Advanced

    Advanced Types 🧬

    Master utility types, conditional types, mapped types, template literals, and type guards — the tools that make TypeScript truly powerful.

    What You'll Learn in This Lesson

    • • Utility types: Partial, Pick, Omit, Record, Readonly
    • • Conditional types with extends and infer
    • • Mapped types and template literal types
    • • Type guards: typeof, instanceof, custom predicates
    • • Exhaustiveness checking with never

    1️⃣ Utility Types

    TypeScript provides built-in utility types that transform existing types. These eliminate boilerplate and keep your type definitions DRY.

    Try It: Utility Types

    Partial, Pick, Omit, Record, Readonly, Extract, Exclude

    Try it Yourself »
    JavaScript
    // TypeScript Utility Types — Built-in Type Transformations
    console.log("=== Built-in Utility Types ===");
    console.log();
    
    // Partial<T> — all properties optional
    console.log("Partial<User> — make everything optional");
    console.log("  interface User { name: string; age: number; email: string; }");
    console.log("  Partial<User> = { name?: string; age?: number; email?: string; }");
    console.log("  Great for update functions: updateUser(id, Partial<User>)");
    console.log();
    
    // Required<T> — all prope
    ...

    2️⃣ Conditional & Mapped Types

    Conditional types add if/then/else logic at the type level. The infer keyword captures types from complex structures. Mapped types transform every property in an existing type.

    Try It: Conditional Types

    Conditional types, infer, mapped types, and template literals

    Try it Yourself »
    JavaScript
    // Conditional & Mapped Types
    console.log("=== Conditional Types ===");
    console.log("T extends U ? X : Y");
    console.log();
    
    console.log("type IsString<T> = T extends string ? true : false;");
    console.log("IsString<'hello'> = true");
    console.log("IsString<42>      = false");
    console.log();
    
    console.log("// Real example: unwrap Promise type");
    console.log("type Awaited<T> = T extends Promise<infer U> ? U : T;");
    console.log("Awaited<Promise<string>> = string");
    console.log("Awaited<Promise<number>
    ...

    3️⃣ Type Guards & Narrowing

    Type guards let you narrow a union type to a specific type within a code block. Use typeof, instanceof, or custom type predicates for safe, narrowed access.

    Try It: Type Guards

    typeof, instanceof, custom guards, and exhaustiveness checking

    Try it Yourself »
    JavaScript
    // Type Guards and Narrowing Patterns
    console.log("=== typeof Guards ===");
    function processInput(input) {
      if (typeof input === "string") {
        console.log("  String: " + input.toUpperCase());
      } else if (typeof input === "number") {
        console.log("  Number: " + input.toFixed(2));
      } else if (typeof input === "boolean") {
        console.log("  Boolean: " + (input ? "YES" : "NO"));
      }
    }
    processInput("hello");
    processInput(3.14159);
    processInput(true);
    console.log();
    
    // instanceof guards
    cons
    ...

    ⚠️ Common Mistakes

    ⚠️
    Over-engineering types — If a conditional type is unreadable, simplify it. Type safety shouldn't come at the cost of maintainability.
    ⚠️
    Missing exhaustiveness checks — Add a default: assertNever(x) in switch statements to catch new enum/union members at compile time.
    💡
    Pro Tip: Use Partial<T> for update operations and Required<T> for creation — same interface, different strictness.

    📋 Quick Reference

    UtilityWhat It Does
    Partial<T>All properties optional
    Required<T>All properties required
    Pick<T, K>Select specific properties
    Omit<T, K>Remove specific properties
    Record<K, V>Object type from key/value
    Readonly<T>All properties readonly
    ReturnType<F>Extract function return type

    🎉 Lesson Complete!

    You've conquered advanced types! Next, learn to use TypeScript with React for type-safe components.

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