Object Property Modifiers#

TypeScript provides several property modifiers to control how object properties behave. These modifiers help you create more precise and safer type definitions.

Optional Properties (?)

Mark properties as optional using the ? modifier. This allows objects to omit those properties:

interface User {
  name: string;
  email?: string; // optional
}
 
const user1: User = { name: "Alice" }; // Valid
const user2: User = { name: "Bob", email: "[email protected]" }; // Also valid

Optional properties are useful when some data might not be available.

Readonly Properties

Use the readonly modifier to prevent properties from being modified after initialization:

interface Config {
  readonly apiKey: string;
  readonly timeout: number;
}
 
const config: Config = { apiKey: "secret123", timeout: 5000 };
// config.apiKey = "newkey"; // Error: Cannot assign to 'apiKey' because it is a read-only property

Readonly properties help enforce immutability and prevent accidental changes.

Required Properties

By default, properties in interfaces are required. You can also explicitly make optional properties required using utility types:

interface PartialUser {
  name?: string;
  email?: string;
}
 
// Make all properties required
type CompleteUser = Required<PartialUser>;
 
const user: CompleteUser = { name: "Alice", email: "[email protected]" };

Utility Types for Modifiers

TypeScript provides utility types to manipulate property modifiers:

• Partial<T>: Makes all properties optional
• Required<T>: Makes all properties required
• Readonly<T>: Makes all properties readonly
• Pick<T, K>: Selects specific properties
• Omit<T, K>: Excludes specific properties

Example:

interface Product {
  id: number;
  name: string;
  price: number;
  description?: string;
}
 
// All properties optional
type PartialProduct = Partial<Product>;
 
// All properties readonly
type ReadonlyProduct = Readonly<Product>;

Best Practices

• Use optional properties for data that may not always be present
• Apply readonly to properties that should not change after initialization
• Leverage utility types to transform property modifiers as needed
• Be consistent in your use of modifiers across your codebase

Common Mistakes

• Forgetting that optional properties can still be undefined
• Attempting to modify readonly properties at runtime
• Overusing optional properties, leading to less predictable code
• Not leveraging utility types for common modifier transformations

Next Steps

Next, dive into index signatures to handle objects with dynamic keys and create flexible dictionary-like structures.

Questions about object property modifiers? Share your thoughts or examples in the comments!