nicknisi

Unleashing the TypeScript Compiler

Here’s a list of all of the resources that were in my talk. Let’s connect on LinkedIn and Twitter/X and check out JS Party.

Presented at THAT Conference 2024

Abstract

Let’s be honest: manipulating or refactoring a large codebase can sometimes make even the best of us break into a cold sweat. But did you know that TypeScript’s Compiler API can be your secret weapon in tackling this challenge?

We’ll start off by breaking down the key concepts - from the Compiler API and codemods to code formatting - and unveil how they all tie back to the Abstract Syntax Trees (ASTs). Using a real-world example from my work on a Developer Experience team, we’ll dive into how we can leverage the TypeScript tooling to our advantage. We’ll query our own code to get a clear understanding of scope and then I’ll walk you through automating far-reaching changes to your code with confidence, whether that spans hundreds of files or just a handful.

In this talk, you’ll not only leave with a solid grasp of how to make the TypeScript Compiler API work for you and how to apply that work in a practical way. Let’s demystify the ASTs and transform your coding experience!

Previous iterations of this talk

KCDC 2024

Talk Feedback

KCDC asks for feedback from attendees and here’s what they had to say about this talk:

  • 💚 Awesome, love your talks!!
  • 💚 Great content.
  • 💚 Easy to follow for any level of TS knowledge
  • 💚 Great talk! Bill Mahoney would be proud. Consider only showing smaller snippets of code for key operations instead of the whole file. Provide a link to the full code for people who want to deep dive.
  • 💚 Great job breaking down overwhelming code, and interesting use of the typescript compiler that I didn’t even know was possible
  • 💚 Nick did an excellent job. I really appreciated him opening up the world of codemods and souce code apis.
  • 💚 Great content! I’ll go back and use this right away Demos were a bit difficult to read
  • 💚 This was way more in depth than I will probably ever need but the fact that it exists was brand new to me, it was in the weeds but very good information. It’s hard to not be in the weeds in these kind of talks and I thought it was done pretty well. I think there was a little bit too much jumping around for a talk and it was not always clear exactly what part of the code we were looking at.
  • 💚 Great presentation
  • 💚 Great talk, helpful and informative! Well done!
  • 💚 Absolutely fantastic talk. I had a rough idea of the power of the TS compiler going in, but therer were so many really good examples.
  • ⭐️ The topic was excellent, but the content was heavy on code filled slides and entirely React focused. Great to know what’s possible, but I left knowing I’d have to revisit all the materials when I have time to translate their content to be more generic.
  • ⭐️ Purpose and problem solved could have been clearer
  • ⭐️ The speaker was very good at presenting but it wasn’t quite what I was expecting based on the abstract. I did learn more about the typescript compiler and plan to revisit the presentation that he has online
  • ⭐️ Great demonstration of the tools needed to perform these codemods! I thought the tone was a bit aggressive with some of the jokes in the talk, but that’s just a personal preference thing. Great examples were used in the talk, and I’m definitely going to keep the compiler API in my toolbox. Thanks!

The Monthly Dev (daily.dev)