Understanding TypeScript Generics: Why, How, and When to Use Them

Generics in TypeScript are an advanced feature that allows developers to create reusable and flexible code by defining placeholder types that can later be replaced with actual types during execution. This feature enhances type safety, error detection, and code reusability while reducing maintenance efforts. Generics can be applied to functions, interfaces, classes, and types, enabling them to operate with various data types without compromising TypeScript's type-checking capabilities. They also support advanced functionalities such as constraints, default types, conditional types, and mapped types, which allow developers to enforce type rules and transform object properties. Despite their initial complexity, the benefits of generics make them a valuable tool for writing more efficient and maintainable code in TypeScript.