React.js

React with TypeScript | A Comprehensive Guide

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11 months ago

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As a web developer, I’ve noticed a popular trend in software development: people are combining TypeScript with React. TypeScript is like a supercharged version of JavaScript that helps make code better and tools easier to use. And React is a common library for making web interfaces.

When you put TypeScript and React together, the code you write tends to be cleaner, work better, and have fewer mistakes. With TypeScript, you can catch errors early, which saves time. It also makes the code easier to understand and maintain, especially for big projects.

I’ve found that many tools and frameworks, like Create React App, make it easy to use TypeScript with React. And one of the things I like most about it is that you can specify the types of data your components need, which helps prevent mistakes.

Overall, TypeScript and React work really well together and can make building and managing complex projects a lot easier.

What Is TypeScript?

TypeScript is a programming language developed by Microsoft. It’s often described as a superset of JavaScript, which means it builds on top of JavaScript by adding new features and capabilities.

One of the main features of TypeScript is static typing. This means that you can specify the type of data that variables can hold, which helps catch errors early in the development process and makes code more predictable and easier to understand.

TypeScript also supports many modern JavaScript features and provides additional tools for organizing and managing code, such as classes, modules, and interfaces.

TypeScript is a powerful tool for building large-scale applications in JavaScript, offering improved code quality, better tooling support, and increased developer productivity.

The advantages of using TypeScript with React

Type Safety: TypeScript helps catch mistakes early by making sure data is used in the right way.

Improved Code Quality: TypeScript makes code cleaner and stronger, reducing the chances of errors.

Enhanced Developer Experience: TypeScript helps developers work faster and with fewer mistakes by providing helpful suggestions and spotting errors as they write code.

Scalability: TypeScript is great for big projects because it keeps everything organized and easy to understand as the project grows.

Better Collaboration: TypeScript makes it easier for developers to understand each other’s code, which helps teams work together smoothly.

Tooling Support: Many tools for React work well with TypeScript, making it easy to set up and use.

Ecosystem Compatibility: TypeScript works well with other popular libraries and tools used in React projects, ensuring everything plays nicely together.

Install and set up TypeScript with React

  1. Install Node.js and npm: If you haven’t already, download and install Node.js from the official website. This will also install npm, which is Node.js’ package manager.
  2. Create a React App: Open your terminal or command prompt and run the following command to create a new React app using Create React App:
   npx create-react-app my-app

Replace my-app with the name of your project.

  1. Navigate to Your Project: Move into your project directory by running:
   cd my-app

Replace my-app with the name of your project directory.

  1. Install TypeScript: Inside your project directory, install TypeScript as a development dependency by running:
   npm install --save-dev typescript @types/node @types/react @types/react-dom @types/jest
  1. Rename Files: Rename the files src/index.js and src/App.js to src/index.tsx and src/App.tsx, respectively. This will convert them to TypeScript files.
  2. Update tsconfig.json: Create a tsconfig.json file in the root of your project directory if it doesn’t already exist. Add the following content to it:
   {
     "compilerOptions": {
       "target": "es5",
       "lib": ["dom", "dom.iterable", "esnext"],
       "allowJs": true,
       "skipLibCheck": true,
       "esModuleInterop": true,
       "allowSyntheticDefaultImports": true,
       "strict": true,
       "forceConsistentCasingInFileNames": true,
       "module": "esnext",
       "moduleResolution": "node",
       "resolveJsonModule": true,
       "isolatedModules": true,
       "noEmit": true,
       "jsx": "react"
     },
     "include": ["src"]
   }
  1. Start the Development Server: Finally, start the development server by running:
   npm start

This will launch your React app with TypeScript enabled. You can now start writing React components using TypeScript!

That’s it! Now You’ve successfully installed and configured TypeScript with React in your project.

Some examples of TypeScript usage in React components

Sure! Here are the examples with your website name, codesick.net:

  1. Functional Component with Props:
import React from 'react';

interface GreetingProps {
  name: string;
}

const Greeting: React.FC<GreetingProps> = ({ name }) => {
  return <div>Hello, {name}! Welcome to codesick.net</div>;
};

export default Greeting;
  1. Class Component with State:
import React, { Component } from 'react';

interface CounterState {
  count: number;
}

class Counter extends Component<{}, CounterState> {
  constructor(props: {}) {
    super(props);
    this.state = {
      count: 0
    };
  }

  increment = () => {
    this.setState({ count: this.state.count + 1 });
  };

  render() {
    return (
      <div>
        <p>Count: {this.state.count}</p>
        <button onClick={this.increment}>Increment</button>
        <p>Welcome to codesick.net</p>
      </div>
    );
  }
}

export default Counter;
  1. Using React Hooks:
import React, { useState } from 'react';

const NameInput: React.FC = () => {
  const [name, setName] = useState<string>('');

  const handleChange = (event: React.ChangeEvent<HTMLInputElement>) => {
    setName(event.target.value);
  };

  return (
    <div>
      <input type="text" value={name} onChange={handleChange} />
      <p>Hello, {name || 'stranger'}! Welcome to codesick.net</p>
    </div>
  );
};

export default NameInput;

Working with React Hooks and TypeScript

Working with React Hooks and TypeScript allows for more concise and type-safe code. Here are examples,

useState

import React, { useState } from 'react';

const Counter: React.FC = () => {
  const [count, setCount] = useState<number>(0);

  return (
    <div>
      <p>Count: {count}</p>
      <button onClick={() => setCount(count + 1)}>Increment</button>
    </div>
  );
};

export default Counter;

useEffect

import React, { useEffect, useState } from 'react';

const DocumentTitleUpdater: React.FC = () => {
  const [count, setCount] = useState<number>(0);

  useEffect(() => {
    document.title = `Count: ${count}`;
  }, [count]);

  return (
    <div>
      <p>Count: {count}</p>
      <button onClick={() => setCount(count + 1)}>Increment</button>
    </div>
  );
};

export default DocumentTitleUpdater;

useContext

import React, { useContext, useState } from 'react';

interface ThemeContextType {
  theme: string;
  setTheme: React.Dispatch<React.SetStateAction<string>>;
}

const ThemeContext = React.createContext<ThemeContextType | undefined>(undefined);

const ThemeButton: React.FC = () => {
  const { theme, setTheme } = useContext(ThemeContext)!;

  return (
    <button onClick={() => setTheme(theme === 'light' ? 'dark' : 'light')}>
      Toggle Theme
    </button>
  );
};

export { ThemeContext, ThemeButton };

useRef

import React, { useRef } from 'react';

const InputFocus: React.FC = () => {
  const inputRef = useRef<HTMLInputElement>(null);

  const handleClick = () => {
    inputRef.current?.focus();
  };

  return (
    <div>
      <input type="text" ref={inputRef} />
      <button onClick={handleClick}>Focus Input</button>
    </div>
  );
};

export default InputFocus;

useReducer

import React, { useReducer } from 'react';

type CounterAction = { type: 'increment' } | { type: 'decrement' };
const counterReducer = (state: number, action: CounterAction): number => {
  switch (action.type) {
    case 'increment':
      return state + 1;
    case 'decrement':
      return state - 1;
    default:
      return state;
  }
};

const CounterWithReducer: React.FC = () => {
  const [state, dispatch] = useReducer(counterReducer, 0);

  return (
    <div>
      <p>Count: {state}</p>
      <button onClick={() => dispatch({ type: 'increment' })}>Increment</button>
      <button onClick={() => dispatch({ type: 'decrement' })}>Decrement</button>
    </div>
  );
};

export default CounterWithReducer;
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