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0014 - Adopt Typescript Strict flag

ID:ADR-0014
Status:IN PROGRESS
Published:2022-09-02

Context and Problem Statement​

For compatibility reasons since the codebase was originally written in JavaScript we have never been able to use the TypeScript strict flag. This has lead to several issues with bugs and resulted in a lower code quality.

TypeScript Strict​

The strict flag enables a wide range of type checking behavior that results in stronger guarantees of program correctness. Turning this on is equivalent to enabling all of the strict mode family options.

https://www.typescriptlang.org/tsconfig#strict

Of particular note is the Strict Null Checks. By default TypeScript will ignore false, null and undefined allowing them to be used for any types. When strictNullChecks are enabled they must be explicitly allowed in the type definition.

Typescript strict mode plugin​

The Typescript strict mode plugin is a TypeScript plugin that allows you to progressively turn on strict mode on a file by file basis. This will allow us to progressively update our codebase to support strict mode without requiring a significant initial engineering effort.

Considered Options​

  • Keep strict disabled - We will continue to run into null issues, and code quality will be lower than it could be.
  • Enable strict flag immediately - Turn on the strict flag immediately and assign an engineer to resolve all errors caused by it. This will take a long time, and result in a multitude of conflicts.
  • Progressively enable strict flag - Use the TypeScript plugin to migrate files one by one.

Decision Outcome​

Chosen option: Progressively enable strict flag.

Positive Consequences​

  • We can immediately start using the strict flag.
  • Lower initial developer effort.

Negative Consequences​

  • Migration will be slower.
  • We will continue to have parts of the code with null issues.
  • Might lead to false security if a file is strict but uses non-strict dependencies.
  • Few best practices.

Files to be updated​

  • libs/common: 310
    • models: 174
    • services: 40
    • abstractions: 45
  • libs/angular: 64
  • libs/node: 11
  • libs/electron: 10
  • apps: 309
    • web: 163
    • browser: 80
    • desktop: 30
    • cli: 36

Plan​

There are several potential pitfalls related to progressively enabling strict mode. Which will benefit from having a plan on how we should tackle the migration. Each category of files should have a proper example how how they should be migrated. And during the initial migration period a best effort should be made to be strict-compliant, but we should not prevent people from adding new files that are not strict. What we should prevent is people adding new non-strict files in the category that we are currently migrating.

Preparation​

Enable the plugin and run update-strict-comments which adds the //@ts-strict-ignore comment to all files which produce a strict error.

Transition​

  1. Migrate libs/common/models.
  2. Migrate libs/common/services and libs/common/abstractions.
  3. Migrate remaining libs/common.
  4. Migrate libs/angular.
  5. Migrate apps. (And forbid anyone from adding new non-strict files)

Guidelines​

Below are some helpful guidelines for migrating files to strict mode.

Avoid null, prefer undefined​

The strictNullChecks flag essentially requires that we add | null to almost all our types. This is quite annoying and a better approach is to use undefined instead. Which allows us to use the ? operator to define the fields as optional. This essentially adds a | undefined to the type.

For some additional context behind this discussion, please read Guidelines for choosing between null and undefined with strictNullChecks · Issue #9653 · microsoft/TypeScript.

Use find references / search​

During the migration strict mode will only be allowed on a subset of the files. This means that changing the interface from null to undefined may result in places that still use undefined. Please double check that null is removed to ensure the expected behavior.

Avoid making non-optional fields optional​

It may be tempting to just add a ? to all fields while migrating the code. Please think carefully wether the field should actually be optional or not. Arrays for example should almost never be undefined and a more sensible default is [].

Use optional chaining​

Take advantage of optional chaining to avoid null checks. Optional chaining allows you to rewire the following code.

// Avoid
if (obj == null || obj.field == null) {
  return false;
}
return true;

// Prefer
return obj?.field != null;

Use Nullish coalescing operator (??)​

https://developer.mozilla.org/en-US/docs/Web/JavaScript/Reference/Operators/Nullish_coalescing_operator

const foo = null ?? "default string";