Effective TypeScript
by Dan Vanderkam · first published 2019
9mentions
6recommended by
9HN commenters
2020–2025first – last mentioned
67% recommend33% neutral
Why HN recommends it
Practical, well-grounded tips for writing better TypeScript, with items that still teach even to experienced developers; recommended for working engineers who already know the basics and want to use the language well.
Summarised by Claude from recommending comments
Affiliate links. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.
Nice article, I like it. I can recommend "Programming TypeScript" by Boris Cherny (O'Reilly, 2019) and "Effective TypeScript" by Dan Vanderkam (O'Reilly, 2019), if you want to learn more like this.
on “Tricks I wish I knew when I learned TypeScript” ↗Effective TypeScript [0] has many more well written and explained tips to know to use TypeScript well. I highly recommend it. [0] https://smile.amazon.com/Effective-TypeScript-Specific-Ways-...
on “Tricks I wish I knew when I learned TypeScript” ↗Try Dan Vanderkam's "Effective Typescript: 62 Specific Ways to Improve YourTypeScript" (O'Reilly). I'm no TS guru, but IMHO it's pretty well-grounded in first principles.
on “TypeScript Book” ↗btw: Dan Vanderkam's book "Effective TypeScript: 83 Specific Ways to Improve Your TypeScript" (which _just_ released) includes TypeScript 5.5. Even after writing TypeScript for many years I found a lot of really practically applicable stuff in it.…
on “TypeScript 5.5” ↗Try "Effective TypeScript" from O'Reilly, every chapter I've read so far has been informative - even when I thought I knew the topic inside-out - and it's well-written for the subject depth. You can read some of the items on the…
on “TypeScript's Type System Is Turing Complete (2017)” ↗…huge class based hierarchies to make types that work in many situations. Define a minimal interface that you need for a function. Any object that has those properties will type check and work. Check out Effective TypeScript, or Programming TypeScript. As a seasoned node developer I assure you that if you ever have teammates, types will help them contribute to a code base faster and with more confidence.
on “Ask HN: Starting a startup with typed code x none typed code” ↗…simple reason is that for the books I buy most, which are technical in nature, the prices on Amazon are so much better. For example, on Wednesday, I bought (from Amazon): - Programming TypeScript - Effective TypeScript - JavaScript: The Definitive Guide - Eloquent JavaScript (I'm learning TypeScript/JavaScript for work...) In order, the prices on Amazon vs Powell's: - $27, $50 - $27, $40 - $52, $70 - $25, $40…
on “Powell’s says it won’t sell books on Amazon anymore” ↗…experienced programmer. You can use almost any resources to grok the basics. I'm genuinely very surprised that there's not a new edition of Effective JavaScript - it should really exist. I haven't read Effective TypeScript, but I've heard good things. I also enjoyed "CSS - The Definitive Guide" from O'Reilly, but I haven't read the latest editions.
on “Ask HN: Recommend book(s) or course(s) on modern front end dev for back end guy” ↗…as possible. And I make him do a TON of self-review, after each feature I say something like: > You are a master reviewer, lots of practical experience. Read Clean Code. Great at architecture. Read Effective Typescript as well. What would you comment in a PR review? Type checking MUST PASS, unit tests must PASS, formatting must PASS. With each review, Claude catches a lot of sub-optimal choices it made which gives…
on “Vibe engineering” ↗