Is it possible to display properties and methods in Typescript without having to explicitly cast to a class type?

In an attempt to replicate a project issue, I crafted this piece of TypeScript code. The scenario involves having a base class (referred to as "Foo") and multiple other classes that extend from it. The goal of the "instanciateFoos" function is to create an instance of a class similar to Foo (in this case, "Bar") and return it with the correct type. Dealing with lengthy class names poses a challenge, as calling the function often requires repeating the class name. As a workaround, I find myself always needing to cast the returned object to the class initially passed into the function in order for TypeScript to recognize it as an instance of that class. Perhaps there is a solution to this dilemma using generics or a similar approach.

class Foo
{
    constructor() { }
}

class Bar extends Foo
{
    talk()
    {
        console.log("Bar");
    }
}

function instanciateFoos(fooLikeClass: typeof Foo)
{
    return new fooLikeClass();
}


let myBar = instanciateFoos(Bar);

myBar.talk();

// Error: Property 'talk' does not exist on type 'Foo'.ts(2339)


let myBar2 = <Bar>initiateFoos(Bar);

myBar2.talk();

// works

Answer №1

If you've noticed, with the use of the generics tag, this problem can be solved by turning instantiateFoos into a generic function:

function instantiateFoos<T extends Foo>(fooLikeClass: new () => T) {
  return new fooLikeClass();
}

Instead of specifying the type of the fooLikeClass parameter as typeof Foo, we now define it as new () => T, which is a no-argument construct signature that creates instances of type T. Here, T is the generic type parameter that is constrained to be a subtype of Foo.

Now, your function call will work as intended:

let myBar = instantiateFoos(Bar); // let myBar: Bar;
myBar.talk(); // okay

Playground link to code

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