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TypeScript Compiler Notes

This repo is a corpus of notes from many engineers over time on different systems inside the TypeScript codebase. It is not meant as a "one true" source of authoritative documentation for the TypeScript compiler API, but as a way to ease contributions to the microsoft/TypeScript repo.

If you're already familiar with the TypeScript codebase and want to help out, we're open to external folks sending PRs improving or adding areas!

Get Started

If you are completely new to the TypeScript codebase, this YouTube video covers all of the major systems involved in converting files to JavaScript, and type-checking types which will provide a high level guide to what you may be interested in focusing on:

If you are really short on time, here is a quick overview of the compilation process.

The process starts with preprocessing. The preprocessor figures out what files should be included in the compilation by following references (/// <reference path=... /> tags, require and import statements).

The parser then generates AST Nodes. These are just an abstract representation of the user input in a tree format. A SourceFile object represents an AST for a given file with some additional information like the file name and source text.

The binder then passes over the AST nodes and generates and binds Symbols. One Symbol is created for each named entity. There is a subtle distinction but several declaration nodes can name the same entity. That means that sometimes different Nodes will have the same Symbol, and each Symbol keeps track of its declaration Nodes. For example, a class and a namespace with the same name can merge and will have the same Symbol. The binder also handles scopes and makes sure that each Symbol is created in the correct enclosing scope.

Generating a SourceFile (along with its Symbols) is done through calling the createSourceFile API.

So far, Symbols represent named entities as seen within a single file, but several declarations can merge multiple files, so the next step is to build a global view of all files in the compilation by building a Program.

A Program is a collection of SourceFiles and a set of CompilerOptions. A Program is created by calling the createProgram API.

From a Program instance a TypeChecker can be created. TypeChecker is the core of the TypeScript type system. It is the part responsible for figuring out relationships between Symbols from different files, assigning Types to Symbols, and generating any semantic Diagnostics (i.e. errors).

The first thing a TypeChecker will do is to consolidate all the Symbols from different SourceFiles into a single view, and build a single Symbol Table by "merging" any common Symbols (e.g. namespaces spanning multiple files).

After initializing the original state, the TypeChecker is ready to answer any questions about the program. Such "questions" might be:

  • What is the Symbol for this Node?
  • What is the Type of this Symbol?
  • What Symbols are visible in this portion of the AST?
  • What are the available Signatures for a function declaration?
  • What errors should be reported for a file?

The TypeChecker computes everything lazily; it only "resolves" the necessary information to answer a question. The checker will only examine Nodes/Symbols/Types that contribute to the question at hand and will not attempt to examine additional entities.

An Emitter can also be created from a given Program. The Emitter is responsible for generating the desired output for a given SourceFile; this includes .js, .jsx, .d.ts, and .js.map outputs.

From there, you can start in the First Steps to Contributing to the TypeScript Repo consult the Glossary or dive directly into the ./codebase/ or ./systems/ folders.

Asking Questions

One of the best places to ask questions is in the 'compiler-internals-and-api' channel of the TypeScript Community Discord.

Related TypeScript Info

Compilers in General

Interesting PRs

If you learn better by seeing how big features are added to TypeScript, here are a few big well-scoped Pull Requests:

Contributing

This project welcomes contributions and suggestions. Most contributions require you to agree to a Contributor License Agreement (CLA) declaring that you have the right to, and actually do, grant us the rights to use your contribution. For details, visit https://cla.opensource.microsoft.com.

When you submit a pull request, a CLA bot will automatically determine whether you need to provide a CLA and decorate the PR appropriately (e.g., status check, comment). Simply follow the instructions provided by the bot. You will only need to do this once across all repos using our CLA.

This project has adopted the Microsoft Open Source Code of Conduct. For more information see the Code of Conduct FAQ or contact [email protected] with any additional questions or comments.

Legal Notices

Microsoft and any contributors grant you a license to the Microsoft documentation and other content in this repository under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International Public License, see the LICENSE file, and grant you a license to any code in the repository under the MIT License, see the LICENSE-CODE file.

Microsoft, Windows, Microsoft Azure and/or other Microsoft products and services referenced in the documentation may be either trademarks or registered trademarks of Microsoft in the United States and/or other countries. The licenses for this project do not grant you rights to use any Microsoft names, logos, or trademarks. Microsoft's general trademark guidelines can be found at http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkID=254653.

Privacy information can be found at https://privacy.microsoft.com/en-us/

Microsoft and any contributors reserve all other rights, whether under their respective copyrights, patents, or trademarks, whether by implication, estoppel or otherwise.