The TypeScript Compiler & tsconfig.json

Understanding tsc and tsconfig.json

The TypeScript compiler (tsc) reads tsconfig.json to determine which files to compile and which JavaScript features to target.

Key compilerOptions

Option	Description
target	ECMAScript version of the emitted code (ES2022, ESNext).
module	Module system (CommonJS, ESNext).
strict	Enables all strict type‑checking options (noImplicitAny, strictNullChecks, …).
sourceMap	Generates .map files for debugging.
declaration	Emits .d.ts declaration files (useful for libraries).
paths & baseUrl	Configure module aliasing.

Incremental builds

"incremental": true,
"tsBuildInfoFile": "./.tsbuildinfo"

Turns on faster incremental compilation.

Project References (monorepos)

"references": [{ "path": "../shared" }]

Allows one TS project to depend on another’s compiled output.

Try it out:

npx tsc --watch   # recompiles on file changes