Using Typescript with Node.js error

Question

I am working on creating a typescript based app with node.js in Win8 with Visual Studio Code.

I have created a Typescript project following the instructions here:https://basarat.gitbooks.io/typescript/docs/quick/nodejs.html

However, on doing npm start (where my target is index.ts, a syntax error is thrown)

index.ts file:

let Myname: string = "World Lease";

It throws the "Unexpected token : " error AND no JS file is created. console.logs work, but still no js files emitted.

Attaching my tsconfig.json and package.json files.

tsconfig.json:

{
  "compilerOptions": {
    /* Basic Options */

    "target": "es5",

    /* Specify ECMAScript target version: 'ES3' (default), 'ES5', 'ES2015', 'ES2016', 'ES2017', or 'ESNEXT'. */

    "module": "commonjs",

    /* Specify module code generation: 'commonjs', 'amd', 'system', 'umd', 'es2015', or 'ESNext'. */
    // "lib": [],                             /* Specify library files to be included in the compilation:  */
    // "allowJs": true,                       /* Allow javascript files to be compiled. */
    // "checkJs": true,                       /* Report errors in .js files. */
    // "jsx": "preserve",                     /* Specify JSX code generation: 'preserve', 'react-native', or 'react'. */
    // "declaration": true,                   /* Generates corresponding '.d.ts' file. */
    // "sourceMap": true,                     /* Generates corresponding '.map' file. */
    // "outFile": "./",                       /* Concatenate and emit output to single file. */
    // "outDir": "./",                        /* Redirect output structure to the directory. */
    // "rootDir": "./",                       /* Specify the root directory of input files. Use to control the output directory structure with --outDir. */
    // "removeComments": true,                /* Do not emit comments to output. */
    // "noEmit": true,                        /* Do not emit outputs. */
    // "importHelpers": true,                 /* Import emit helpers from 'tslib'. */
    // "downlevelIteration": true,            /* Provide full support for iterables in 'for-of', spread, and destructuring when targeting 'ES5' or 'ES3'. */
    // "isolatedModules": true,               /* Transpile each file as a separate module (similar to 'ts.transpileModule'). */

    /* Strict Type-Checking Options */

    "strict": true,

    /* Enable all strict type-checking options. */
    // "noImplicitAny": true,                 /* Raise error on expressions and declarations with an implied 'any' type. */
    // "strictNullChecks": true,              /* Enable strict null checks. */
    // "noImplicitThis": true,                /* Raise error on 'this' expressions with an implied 'any' type. */
    // "alwaysStrict": true,                  /* Parse in strict mode and emit "use strict" for each source file. */

    /* Additional Checks */
    // "noUnusedLocals": true,                /* Report errors on unused locals. */
    // "noUnusedParameters": true,            /* Report errors on unused parameters. */
    // "noImplicitReturns": true,             /* Report error when not all code paths in function return a value. */
    // "noFallthroughCasesInSwitch": true,    /* Report errors for fallthrough cases in switch statement. */

    /* Module Resolution Options */
    // "moduleResolution": "node",            /* Specify module resolution strategy: 'node' (Node.js) or 'classic' (TypeScript pre-1.6). */
    // "baseUrl": "./",                       /* Base directory to resolve non-absolute module names. */
    // "paths": {},                           /* A series of entries which re-map imports to lookup locations relative to the 'baseUrl'. */
    // "rootDirs": [],                        /* List of root folders whose combined content represents the structure of the project at runtime. */


    "typeRoots": ["node_modules/@types"] /* List of folders to include type definitions from. */


    // "types": [],                           /* Type declaration files to be included in compilation. */
    // "allowSyntheticDefaultImports": true,  /* Allow default imports from modules with no default export. This does not affect code emit, just typechecking. */

    /* Source Map Options */
    // "sourceRoot": "./",                    /* Specify the location where debugger should locate TypeScript files instead of source locations. */
    // "mapRoot": "./",                       /* Specify the location where debugger should locate map files instead of generated locations. */
    // "inlineSourceMap": true,               /* Emit a single file with source maps instead of having a separate file. */
    // "inlineSources": true,                 /* Emit the source alongside the sourcemaps within a single file; requires '--inlineSourceMap' or '--sourceMap' to be set. */

    /* Experimental Options */
    // "experimentalDecorators": true,        /* Enables experimental support for ES7 decorators. */
    // "emitDecoratorMetadata": true,         /* Enables experimental support for emitting type metadata for decorators. */

  }
}

package.json:

{
  "name": "learntool",
  "version": "1.0.0",
  "description": "",
  "main": "index.ts",
  "scripts": {
    "start": "npm run build:live",
    "build:live": "nodemon --exec \node_modules\bin\ts-node -- index.ts"
  },
  "keywords": [],
  "author": "",
  "license": "ISC",
  "devDependencies": {
    "@types/node": "^8.0.9",
    "nodemon": "^1.11.0",
    "ts-node": "^3.2.0",
    "typescript": "^2.4.1"
  }
}

Please note the build:live line in the above snippet. It has been changed from the specified one because i use Windows.

Answer 1

Double check your postinstall scripts. After I copied your code over, and ran npm install, I was also getting syntax errors, but I noticed this line:

"build:live": "nodemon --exec \node_modules\bin\ts-node -- index.ts"

...and decided to run each component manually. tsc-node wasn't in bin but in .bin, so I changed the line to:

"build:live": "nodemon --exec \node_modules\\.bin\ts-node -- index.ts"

...and it started running.

Answer 2

Could you try to add exclude to your tsconfig.json, e.g.:

{
   "compilerOptions": {
     "module": "commonjs",
     "target": "es5",
   },
   "exclude": [
     "node_modules/"
   ]
}