What is tcomb?
The tcomb npm package is a library for Node.js and the browser which allows you to check the types of JavaScript values at runtime with a simple and concise syntax. It is useful for enforcing type safety, defining domain models, and creating composable and reusable type checkers.
What are tcomb's main functionalities?
Type Checking
This feature allows you to define a structure with specific types and create instances that adhere to those types.
const t = require('tcomb');
const Person = t.struct({ name: t.String, age: t.Number });
const person = Person({ name: 'Giulio', age: 43 });
Function Argument Validation
This feature enables you to validate function arguments to ensure they are of the expected type.
const t = require('tcomb');
function sum(a, b) {
t.Number(a);
t.Number(b);
return a + b;
}
sum(1, 2);
Subtyping
This feature allows you to create subtypes based on existing types with additional constraints.
const t = require('tcomb');
const Positive = t.subtype(t.Number, n => n >= 0);
const positiveNumber = Positive(10);
Refinement
This feature is similar to subtyping but is specifically for refining types to a more specific subset.
const t = require('tcomb');
const Integer = t.refinement(t.Number, n => n % 1 === 0);
const integerNumber = Integer(42);
Enums
This feature allows you to define a set of constants and ensure values match one of those constants.
const t = require('tcomb');
const Role = t.enums({ Admin: 'Admin', User: 'User' });
const userRole = Role('User');
Other packages similar to tcomb
prop-types
Prop-types is a library for React that is used to document the intended types of properties passed to components. It is similar to tcomb in that it provides runtime type checking, but it is specifically tailored for React's component props.
io-ts
io-ts is a TypeScript runtime type system for IO decoding/encoding. It is similar to tcomb in providing runtime type checking and validation, but it leverages TypeScript's type system for added compile-time safety.
joi
Joi is an object schema description language and validator for JavaScript objects. It provides a powerful and expressive way to define and validate data structures. It is similar to tcomb in terms of validation capabilities but has a different API and is often used for validating API input.
ajv
Ajv is a JSON schema validator. It validates data against JSON Schema standards and is similar to tcomb in terms of validation. However, it uses a JSON-based schema definition rather than a programmatic API.