React TypeScript: Simplify Imports with Path Aliases

As codebases grow larger and more complex in structure, imports can become unmanageable. As more directories are added, imports become intricately long and obscure clarity. Fortunately, we can simplify imports with path aliases.

The problem

The following is a fairly common occurrence in a large project:

import { ComponentButton } from '../../../../components/ComponentButton';

This can be burdensome to read, follow, and sometimes refactor.

The solution

Our code can be made more understandable and clearer by using path aliases to create import path shortcuts. Regardless of the size of the project, they allow you to obtain concise imports such as these:

import { ComponentButton } from '@components/ComponentButton';

Setup

In a TypeScript project, we can set path aliases in the tsconfig.json file located at the project’s root.

We’ll need to add a ‘paths’ attribute inside the ‘compilerOptions’ key in the tsconfig.json file:

{
  "compilerOptions": {
    "baseUrl": ".",
    "paths": {
      "@components/*": ["src/components/*"]
    }
  }
}

The configuration above tells the TypeScript compiler to interpret imports with “@components/” to correspond to the “src/comoponents/” directory.

We can then strategically expand the aliases as the application grows in size. Here’s an example of an updated section in the tsconfig.json that includes additional aliases:

{
  "compilerOptions": {
    "baseUrl": "src",
    "paths": {
      "@components/*": ["components/*"],
      "@shared/*": ["components/common/shared/*"],
      "@views/*": ["views/*"],
      "@hooks/*": ["hooks/*"],
      "@services/*": ["services/*"],
      "@utilities/*": ["utilities/*"]
    }
  }
}

In this example, the ‘baseUrl’ attribute simplifies the alias definitions, referencing the “src” directory as the root for all specified paths.

Conclusion

Path aliases may significantly increase the organization and readability of code in React and TypeScript apps. Developers can streamline their coding, manage imports more easily, and lower the chance of errors resulting from complex relative paths by creating obvious shortcuts for import paths. Let us know in the comments if you have any questions about path aliases.