Top 50 TypeScript interview questions

Fundamental Type System (Questions 1-10)

1. Explain the difference between type and interface in TypeScript. When would you use one over the other? This tests understanding of declaration merging, computed properties, and the practical implications of each approach.

2. What is structural typing in TypeScript, and how does it differ from nominal typing? Understanding this concept is crucial for grasping why TypeScript allows certain assignments that might seem surprising.

3. Explain the unknown type and how it differs from any. Why was unknown introduced? This reveals whether a candidate understands type safety and the progression of TypeScript’s type system.

4. What is type narrowing, and what are the different ways to narrow types in TypeScript? This covers type guards, discriminated unions, and control flow analysis.

5. Explain the difference between never and void. Provide use cases for the never type. Understanding these utility types shows comprehension of TypeScript’s type algebra.

6. What are union types and intersection types? Explain with examples where each would be most appropriate. This tests fundamental understanding of type composition.

7. Describe the difference between enum and const enum. What are the runtime implications of each? This reveals understanding of how TypeScript compiles to JavaScript.

8. What is type assertion in TypeScript? What’s the difference between as and angle bracket <> syntax, and when should you avoid type assertions? This tests whether candidates understand the dangers of type assertions.

9. Explain what index signatures are and their limitations. How do they differ from mapped types? This reveals understanding of dynamic property access and type system constraints.

10. What is the purpose of the readonly modifier? How does it differ from const? This tests understanding of immutability at the type level versus runtime.

Advanced Types and Generics (Questions 11-20)

11. Explain what generic constraints are and provide a real-world example where they solve a specific problem. This tests practical application of generics beyond simple container types.

12. What are conditional types in TypeScript? Explain the T extends U ? X : Y syntax and provide an example. Understanding conditional types is essential for advanced TypeScript usage.

13. Explain the infer keyword in conditional types. How would you use it to extract the return type of a function? This is a common advanced interview question that tests deep type system knowledge.

14. What are template literal types, and how can they be used to create more precise types? This tests knowledge of TypeScript 4.1+ features and string manipulation at the type level.

15. Explain what mapped types are and how they work. Implement a simple version of the Partial utility type. This reveals understanding of type transformations.

16. What is the difference between covariance, contravariance, and invariance in TypeScript? How does this apply to function parameters? This is an advanced question that separates senior developers from others.

17. Explain what distributive conditional types are. Why does T extends U ? X : Y distribute over union types? This tests deep understanding of how TypeScript’s type system processes unions.

18. How do you create a type-safe event emitter using generics? This is a practical question that tests ability to apply generics to real-world patterns.

19. What are higher-order types, and how would you implement a Curry type that represents a curried function? This tests advanced generic manipulation skills.

20. Explain what recursive types are and provide an example of when you’d use them, such as representing a nested tree structure. Understanding recursive types is crucial for complex data structures.

Utility Types and Type Manipulation (Questions 21-30)

21. Implement the Pick and Omit utility types from scratch. Explain how they work internally. This tests understanding of mapped types and keyof operators.

22. What is the keyof operator, and how does it relate to typeof? Provide examples of using them together. This reveals understanding of type queries and index access.

23. Explain the ReturnType and Parameters utility types. How would you implement them? This tests knowledge of conditional types and the infer keyword.

24. What is the difference between Record<K, V> and an index signature? When would you prefer one over the other? This tests practical understanding of object type construction.

25. Implement a DeepReadonly type that makes all properties readonly recursively, including nested objects and arrays. This is a challenging question that tests advanced mapped type and conditional type skills.

26. How would you create a type that represents all possible paths through an object as string literal types? This tests ability to work with template literal types and recursive types together.

27. Explain the Exclude, Extract, and NonNullable utility types. Implement one from scratch. This tests understanding of conditional types and type filtering.

28. What is the Awaited utility type, and why is it useful for working with promises? This tests understanding of modern TypeScript features for async operations.

29. How would you create a type that makes specific properties required while keeping others optional? This tests ability to combine utility types creatively.

30. Implement a UnionToIntersection type. Explain how it works using contravariance. This is a very advanced question that tests deep type system knowledge.

Practical Application and Patterns (Questions 31-40)

31. How do you implement a builder pattern in TypeScript that ensures required properties are set before building? This tests ability to use the type system for API design.

32. Explain how to use TypeScript with React: What are the differences between FC, ReactElement, ReactNode, and JSX.Element? Since you work with React, this is directly relevant.

33. How do you type a higher-order component (HOC) in TypeScript? This tests understanding of generics and React patterns together.

34. What are discriminated unions, and how do they enable exhaustive type checking with switch statements? This is a crucial pattern for type-safe state machines.

35. How would you implement type-safe Redux actions and reducers? This tests practical application of union types and type narrowing.

36. Explain how to create a type-safe API client where endpoints are strongly typed based on a schema. This tests ability to apply TypeScript to real-world architectural challenges.

37. How do you handle branded types (nominal typing) in TypeScript’s structural type system? This reveals advanced techniques for creating distinct types.

38. What strategies can you use to type third-party libraries that don’t have type definitions? This tests practical experience with the TypeScript ecosystem.

39. How do you implement dependency injection in TypeScript while maintaining type safety? This tests understanding of advanced patterns and generics.

40. Explain how to use TypeScript’s type system to prevent invalid state representations (making impossible states impossible). This is a key principle of type-safe design.

Configuration, Tooling, and Best Practices (Questions 41-50)

41. Explain the most important tsconfig.json options: strict, strictNullChecks, noImplicitAny, strictFunctionTypes. What does each enforce? This tests understanding of type safety configurations.

42. What is the difference between module and target in tsconfig? How do they affect compilation? This reveals understanding of TypeScript compilation and JavaScript ecosystem.

43. Explain the paths and baseUrl options in tsconfig. How do they help with module resolution? This tests practical project configuration knowledge.

44. What are declaration files (.d.ts), and when would you create them manually? This tests understanding of type declarations and the TypeScript compilation model.

45. Explain the declare keyword and its use cases, including ambient declarations and global augmentation. This tests knowledge of advanced declaration patterns.

46. How does TypeScript handle module augmentation and declaration merging? Provide examples. This is important for extending third-party types.

47. What are the performance implications of using complex types? How can you optimize TypeScript compilation speed? This tests experience with large codebases and practical challenges.

48. Explain the satisfies operator introduced in TypeScript 4.9. How does it differ from type assertions? This tests knowledge of recent TypeScript features.

49. What are some common TypeScript anti-patterns, and how would you refactor them? This reveals practical experience and understanding of best practices.

50. How do you approach migrating a large JavaScript codebase to TypeScript? What strategies would you use to minimize disruption? This tests real-world experience and architectural thinking.

These questions cover the full spectrum from fundamentals to expert-level TypeScript knowledge, touching on theoretical understanding, practical application, and real-world scenarios you’d encounter in production codebases.