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You’re a Real TypeScript Developer Only If...

Hadil Ben Abdallah on June 08, 2026

A few months ago, I published You're a Real JavaScript Developer Only If... It was just a post for fun, and honestly, I didn't expect it to resona...
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Adam - The Developer

did a code review once, saw this guy wrote as unknown as any
lol

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Hadil Ben Abdallah

Haha that’s one of those things that makes you pause for a solid 5 seconds 😄

as unknown as any feels like the TypeScript version of “I don’t want to think about this right now”, maximum type confusion, zero accountability 😂

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Syed Ahmed Mohi Uddin Hasan

TypeScript isn't trying to ruin your day. It's trying to stop future-you from ruining it. — Louder for the people in the back! 😭

My most "TypeScript developer" moment has to be writing a generic type so abstract that I needed a map and a compass to read it six months later. Awesome write-up, Hadil!

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Hadil Ben Abdallah

This is so real 😭

That “future-you protection system” is exactly what TypeScript is doing… even if present-you doesn’t always appreciate it in the moment 😄

And honestly, that generic type situation is a rite of passage at this point. You look at it later and think: “there’s no way I wrote this”… and then you slowly realize you absolutely did 😂

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Dhruv Joshi

If you're relying on as any and // @ts-ignore to pass your builds, you're not actually writing TypeScript, you're just writing broken JavaScript with extra steps.

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Hadil Ben Abdallah

Haha I get the vibe behind this 😄

But in real life projects… I think it’s a little more complicated.

Most of us don’t start with any or // @ts-ignore as a habit; they usually pop up as temporary survival tools when you’re dealing with messy legacy code, third-party libs with weak typings, or tight deadlines. It’s a bit like duct tape, not the perfect fix, but sometimes it keeps things going while you sort the real problem out properly later.

The big difference is if it stays temporary or if it becomes a habit 😅

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Aida Said

I had so much fun reading this 😄 I passed by almost everything in this list 😂 And like you said, I still secretly love TypeScript

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Hadil Ben Abdallah

I'm glad you liked it 😍 We've all gone by the majority of them 😄

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Ben Abdallah Hanadi

Thanks for confirming I'm officially a TypeScript developer 😂

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Hadil Ben Abdallah

Congratulations! 🎉😄

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Aryan Choudhary

Been a while I coded something up, kind of nostalgic but fun read!! 😆

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Alois Sečkár • Edited

// @ts-ignore gets rejected by my ESLint rules 🥹 It enforces // @ts-expect-error <WHY?>