TypeScript: Type Inference implementing Generic Functions and Object Literals
I'm prototyping a solution and I keep running into I'm working on a project and hit a roadblock... After trying multiple solutions online, I still can't figure this out. I'm working with an scenario with TypeScript's type inference when working with a generic function that returns an object literal. I have a function that is supposed to accept a generic type and return an object containing properties based on the passed type. However, TypeScript is not inferring the types correctly, and I'm getting errors that suggest the properties do not exist on the inferred type. Here’s the code snippet: ```typescript function createObject<T>(value: T): { data: T; timestamp: number } { return { data: value, timestamp: Date.now() }; } const result = createObject({ name: 'StackOverflow', id: 1 }); console.log(result.data.name); // behavior: Property 'name' does not exist on type 'T'. ``` When I try to access `result.data.name`, I get a TypeScript behavior saying `Property 'name' does not exist on type 'T'`. I understand that TypeScript treats `T` as a generic type without any constraints, but I expected it to infer the properties of the object passed to `createObject`. I’ve tried adding constraints to the generic type, like so: ```typescript function createObject<T extends { name: string; id: number }>(value: T): { data: T; timestamp: number } { return { data: value, timestamp: Date.now() }; } ``` However, that approach feels too restrictive, as I want the function to accept any shape of object as long as it retains the properties of the generic type. Is there a way to make TypeScript correctly infer the object shape without losing flexibility? I've also checked my `tsconfig.json` for strict settings, but I have `strict` set to `true` to catch potential issues. Any insights on how to resolve this scenario or improve the type inference would be greatly appreciated! My development environment is Windows. What's the best practice here? Thanks for any help you can provide! Has anyone else encountered this?