Top 50 TypeScript interview questions explained

TypeScript is an open-source superset of JavaScript developed by Microsoft to add additional features without breaking existing programs. TypeScript is now widely used by front-end and full-stack developers for large-scale projects due to its unique benefits like static typing and many shorthand notations.

Today, we’ll help you prepare for your TypeScript coding interview by covering 50 of the top TypeScript interview questions and answers.

Here’s what we’ll cover today:

• General TypeScript Questions
• TypeScript Syntax & Language Basics
• TypeScript with JavaScript Questions
• Advanced TypeScript Questions
• 20 More TypeScript Questions to Practice
• Tips for preparing for TypeScript interviews

General TypeScript Questions#

1. What are the main features of TypeScript?#

• Cross-Platform: The TypeScript compiler can be installed on any operating system such as Windows, macOS, and Linux.
• ES6 Features: TypeScript includes most features of planned ECMAScript 2015 (ES6) such as Arrow functions.
• Object-Oriented Language: TypeScript provides all the standard OOP features like classes, interfaces, and modules.
• Static Type-Checking: TypeScript uses static typing and helps type checking at compile time. Thus, you can find compile-time errors while writing the code without running the script.
• Optional Static Typing: TypeScript also allows optional static typing in case you are used to the dynamic typing of JavaScript.
• DOM Manipulation: You can use TypeScript to manipulate the DOM for adding or removing client-side web page elements.

2. What are the benefits of using TypeScript?#

• TypeScript is more expressive, meaning it has less syntactical clutter.
• Easy debugging due to advanced debugger that focuses on catching logical errors before compile-time
• Static typing makes TypeScript easier to read and more structured than JavaScript’s dynamic typing.
• Usable across platforms, in both client and server-side projects due to versatile transpiling.

3. What are the built-in data types of TypeScript?#

Number type: It is used to represent number type values. All the numbers in TypeScript are stored as floating-point values.

let identifier: number = value;

String type: It represents a sequence of characters stored as Unicode UTF-16 code. Strings are enclosed in single or double quotation marks.

let identifier: string = " ";

Boolean type: a logical binary switch that holds either true or false

let identifier: bool = Boolean value;

Null type: Null represents a variable whose value is undefined.

 let num: number = null;

Undefined type: an undefined literal that is the starting point of all variables.

let num: number = undefined;

Void type: The type assigned to methods that have no return value.

 let unusable: void = undefined;

4. What is the current stable version of TypeScript?#

The current stable version is 4.2.3.

5. What is an interface in TypeScript?#

Interfaces define a contract or structure for objects that use that interface.

An interface is defined with the keyword interface and it can include properties and method declarations using a function or an arrow function.

interface IEmployee {
    empCode: number;
    empName: string;
    getSalary: (number) => number; // arrow function
    getManagerName(number): string; 
}

6. What are modules in TypeScript?#

Modules in TypeScript are a collection of related variables, functions, classes, and interfaces.

You can think of modules as containers that contain everything needed to execute a task. Modules can be imported to easily share code between projects.

module module_name{
class xyz{
export sum(x, y){
return x+y;
}
}

7. How can you use TypeScript for the backend?#

You can use Node.js with TypeScript to bring the benefits of TypeScript to backend work.

Simply install the TypeScript compiler into your Node.js by entering the following command:

npm i -g typescript  

8. What are Type assertions in TypeScript?#

Type assertion in TypeScript works like typecasting in other languages but without the type checking or restructuring of data possible in languages like C# and Java. Type assertion has no impact on runtime and is used purely by the compiler.

Type assertion is essentially a soft version of typecasting that suggests the compiler see the variable as a certain type but does not force it into that mold if it’s in a different form.

TypeScript Syntax & Language Basics#

9. How do you create a variable in TypeScript?#

You can create variables in three ways: var, let, and const. var is the old style of fiercely scoped variables. You should avoid using var whenever possible because it can cause issues in larger projects.

var num:number = 1; 

let is the default way of declaring variables in TypeScript, Compared to var, let reduces the number of compile-time errors and increases code readability.

let num:number = 1; 

const creates a constant variable whose value cannot change. It uses the same scoping rules as let and helps reduce overall program complexity.

const num:number = 100;

10. How do you call a base class constructor from a child class in TypeScript?#

You can use the super() function to call the constructor of the base class.

class Animal {
  name: string;
  constructor(theName: string) {
    this.name = theName;
  }
  move(distanceInMeters: number = 0) {
    console.log(`${this.name} moved ${distanceInMeters}m.`);
  }
}

class Snake extends Animal {
  constructor(name: string) {
    super(name);
  }
  move(distanceInMeters = 5) {
    console.log("Slithering...");
    super.move(distanceInMeters);
  }
}

11. Explain how to use TypeScript Mixins.#

Mixins are essentially inheritance that works in the opposite direction. Mixins allow you to build new classes by combining simpler partial class setups from previous classes.

Instead of class A extending class B to gain its functionality, class B takes from class A and returns a new class with additional functionality.

12. How do you check null and undefined in TypeScript?#

You can either use a juggle-check, which checks both null and undefined, and strict-check which returns true for values set to null and won’t evaluate true for undefined variables.

//juggle
if (x == null) {  
}  

var a: number;  
var b: number = null;  
function check(x, name) {  
    if (x == null) {  
        console.log(name + ' == null');  
    }  
    if (x === null) {  
        console.log(name + ' === null');  
    }  
    if (typeof x === 'undefined') {  
        console.log(name + ' is undefined');  
    }  
}  
check(a, 'a');  
check(b, 'b');  

13. What are getters/setters in TypeScript? How do you use them?#

Getters and setters are special types of methods that help you delegate different levels of access to private variables based on the needs of the program.

Getters allow you to reference a value but cannot edit it. Setters allow you to change the value of a variable but not see its current value. These are essential to achieve encapsulation.

For example, a new employer may be able to get the number of employees in the company but does not have permission to set the number of employees.

const fullNameMaxLength = 10;

class Employee {
  private _fullName: string = "";

  get fullName(): string {
    return this._fullName;
  }

  set fullName(newName: string) {
    if (newName && newName.length > fullNameMaxLength) {
      throw new Error("fullName has a max length of " + fullNameMaxLength);
    }

    this._fullName = newName;
  }
}

let employee = new Employee();
employee.fullName = "Bob Smith";

if (employee.fullName) {
  console.log(employee.fullName);
}

14. How do you allow classes defined in a module to be accessible outside of a module?#

You can use the export keyword to open modules up for use outside the module.

module Admin {
  // use the export keyword in TypeScript to access the class outside
  export class Employee {
    constructor(name: string, email: string) { }
  }
  let alex = new Employee('alex', 'alex@gmail.com');
}

// The Admin variable will allow you to access the Employee class outside the module with the help of the export keyword in TypeScript
let nick = new Admin.Employee('nick', 'nick@yahoo.com');

15. How do we convert string to a number using Typescript?#

Similar to JavaScript, You can use the parseInt or parseFloat functions to convert a string to an integer or float, respectively. You can also use the unary operator + to convert a string to the most fitting numeric type, “3” becomes the integer 3 while “3.14” becomes the float 3.14.

var x = "32";
var y: number = +x;

16. What is a ‘.map’ file, and why/how can you use it?#

A map file is a source map that shows how the original TypeScript code was interpreted into usable JavaScript code. They help simplify debugging because you can catch any odd compiler behavior.

Debugging tools can also use these files to allow you to edit the underlying TypeScript rather than the emitted JavaScript file.

17. What are classes in TypeScript? How do you define them?#

Classes represent the shared behaviors and attributes of a group of related objects.

For example, our class might be Student which all have the attendClass method. On the other hand, John is an individual instance of type Student and may have additional unique behaviors like attendExtracurricular.

You declare classes using the keyword class:

class Student {    
    studCode: number;    
    studName: string;    
    constructor(code: number, name: string) {    
            this.studName = name;    
            this.studCode = code;    
    }