Friday, 24 April 2026

Types in TypeScript

The basic types are called primitives: 
  • boolean
  • number (which represents integers and floating points)
  • string  
There is also:
  •  BigInt (ES2020+) to represent whole numbers larger than 2^53 -1, and
  •  symbol to create unique identifiers
Starting with ES2015, symbol is a primitive type, whose values are created by calling the Symbol constructor.

Examples:

let sym1 = Symbol();
let sym2 = Symbol("keyname");

Symbols are immutable and unique, which can result in what may be initially feel like strange behaviour, but on reflection makes sense.

let sym2 = Symbol("key");
let sym3 = Symbol("key");

sym2 === sym3; // triple equality - false, Symbols are unique.

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