TypeScript Mapped Types

Mapped types in TypeScript allow you to create new types by transforming the properties of existing types.

• They enable modifications like making properties optional, read-only, or altering their types.
• Mapped types help reduce code duplication and enhance type safety by automating type transformations.
• They are particularly useful for creating variations of types without manually redefining each property.

type User = {
  id: number;
  name: string;
  email: string;
};

type PartialUser = {
  [P in keyof User]?: User[P];
};

• PartialUser is a new type where each property of User is made optional.
• The keyof operator retrieves all keys from User, and the mapped type iterates over each key, marking them as optional with ?.

Output:

const user1: PartialUser = { id: 1 }; 
const user2: PartialUser = {}; 
const user3: PartialUser = { id: 2, name: "Alice" }; 

More Example of TypeScript Mapped Types

Creating Readonly Properties

type User = {
  id: number;
  name: string;
  email: string;
};

type ReadonlyUser = {
  readonly [P in keyof User]: User[P];
};

const user: ReadonlyUser = { id: 1, name: "Alice", email: "alice@example.com" };
user.id = 2;

• ReadonlyUser is a new type where all properties of User are marked as readonly.
• Attempting to modify any property of user will result in a compile-time error.

Output:

Error: Cannot assign to 'id' because it is a read-only property.

Creating Nullable Properties

type Product = {
  name: string;
  price: number;
  inStock: boolean;
};

type NullableProduct = {
  [P in keyof Product]: Product[P] | null;
};

const product: NullableProduct = { name: "Laptop", price: null, inStock: true };

• NullableProduct is a new type where each property of Product can be its original type or null.
• This allows properties to explicitly have a null value, indicating the absence of a value.

Output:

{ name: "Laptop", price: null, inStock: true }

Renaming Properties with Template Literals

type Person = {
  firstName: string;
  lastName: string;
};

type PrefixedPerson = {
  [P in keyof Person as `person${Capitalize<P>}`]: Person[P];
};

const person: PrefixedPerson = { personFirstName: "John", personLastName: "Doe" };

• PrefixedPerson creates a new type by prefixing each property of Person with 'person' and capitalizing the original property name.
• This demonstrates how to transform property names using template literal types and the Capitalize utility type.

Output:

{ personFirstName: "John", personLastName: "Doe" }

Best Practices for Using TypeScript Mapped Types

• Keep Transformations Simple: Avoid overly complex nested transformations to maintain readability and ease of maintenance.
• Ensure Type Safety: Leverage mapped types to enforce consistent property transformations, enhancing type safety across your codebase.
• Combine with Utility Types: Utilize built-in utility types like Partial, Readonly, Pick, and Omit to simplify common transformations.