bnadlerjr/dotfiles/developing-typescript

Developing TypeScript

Expert guidance for building robust, type-safe TypeScript and React applications.

Quick Start

For immediate help, identify your task type and consult the relevant reference:

Cross-Cutting Principles

These principles apply across all TypeScript/React development:

Type Safety First

1. Prefer compile-time errors over runtime errors
2. Use strict mode and appropriate compiler options
3. Leverage type inference where it improves readability
4. Create discriminated unions for state management

Component Architecture

1. Prefer composition over prop drilling
2. Keep components focused on single responsibilities
3. Use custom hooks to extract reusable logic
4. Push side effects to dedicated hooks or boundaries

Performance Mindset

• Measure before optimizing
• Understand React's rendering model
• Use memoization strategically, not reflexively
• Consider bundle size for every dependency

Examples

Creating a type-safe form component:

User: "I need a reusable form that handles different data types"
→ Consult typescript-core.md for generics, react-architecture.md for patterns

Optimizing re-renders:

User: "My component re-renders too often"
→ Consult performance-optimization.md for profiling and memoization strategies

Setting up GraphQL with type safety:

User: "Integrate Apollo Client with TypeScript codegen"
→ Consult graphql-integration.md for setup and patterns

Writing component tests:

User: "Test this form submission flow"
→ Consult the testing-react-with-vitest skill for user behavior testing patterns

Anti-Patterns to Avoid

Premature Abstraction

• Creating generic components before you have 3 similar cases
• Building complex type utilities for one-off uses
• Over-engineering state management with Context
• Adding dependency injection patterns unnecessarily

Type System Misuse

• Using any to silence errors instead of fixing types
• Over-constraining types that limit legitimate use cases
• Creating deep type hierarchies that confuse inference
• Ignoring TypeScript's structural typing strengths

Performance Anti-Patterns

• Premature memoization without measurement
• useCallback/useMemo on every function/value
• Splitting code before you have bundle size problems
• Optimizing renders that aren't causing issues

Reference File IDs

For programmatic access (e.g., parallel reviews), use these identifiers:

typescript-core · react-architecture · react-19-patterns · graphql-integration · performance-optimization