@ts-rust/std

A TypeScript library inspired by Rust’s Option<T> and Result<T, E> types, designed to bring type-safe, ergonomic, and robust value and error handling to JavaScript projects. Built with TypeScript, @ts-rust/std ensures no runtime errors are thrown by leveraging static typing and functional programming patterns.

This package is part of the @ts-rust monorepo, which adapts Rust’s standard library concepts into idiomatic TypeScript.

Philosophy

JavaScript often handles optional values and errors using null, undefined, or thrown exceptions—approaches that can lead to runtime errors and untyped, unpredictable code. In contrast, modern languages like Go and Rust take a different approach: instead of throwing exceptions, they return errors as values, forcing the caller to explicitly handle or ignore them. Inspired by Rust’s Option and Result types, @ts-rust/std brings this disciplined error-handling model to JavaScript and TypeScript, offering a safer and more explicit way to manage errors and optional values.

In Rust, error handling is deeply integrated into the language. Functions either return a Result (or Option) to indicate success or failure, or they panic to signal an unrecoverable error. JavaScript, however, operates differently: errors can be thrown synchronously (caught with try/catch) or asynchronously (via rejected promises). While handling both cases is straightforward in theory, real-world applications often result in "messy" and "noisy" code, especially when dealing with asynchronous operations like unhandled promise rejections. @ts-rust/std addresses this by providing Option and Result types—along with their asynchronous counterparts, PendingOption and PendingResult—to simplify error handling, making it explicit, predictable, and safe.

The core philosophy of this library is to ensure "safe options and results." Once execution enters a method of Option, Result, or their pending variants, no synchronous or asynchronous exceptions will be thrown or rejected unless explicitly documented. For example, methods like unwrap and expect are designed to throw (or reject, in async contexts) when called inappropriately, mirroring Rust’s behavior where a method would panic. In all other cases, errors are handled gracefully by returning None or Err, preventing unexpected runtime failures. This design makes the library’s behavior predictable and aligns with Rust’s safety guarantees, adapted for JavaScript’s single-threaded, asynchronous nature.

JavaScript’s single-threaded model eliminates concerns like race conditions and unsafe multi-threaded operations (common in Rust’s async runtimes), but it introduces challenges like properly handling asynchronous behavior—think "unhandled promise rejection" errors. To address this, @ts-rust/std clearly separates synchronous and asynchronous APIs. For instance, many methods on Result and Option restrict their this type to SettledResult<T, E> or SettledOption<T>, ensuring that the inner value is Awaited<T> before operations like unwrap or check can be called. The library provides a variety of methods to help settle promises safely, making async workflows seamless and type-safe.

Key features of @ts-rust/std include:

• Type Safety: Leverage TypeScript’s type system to catch errors at compile time.
• No Runtime Surprises: Avoid issues like undefined is not a function or unhandled promise rejection.
• Ergonomic Design: Chain operations with methods like map, andThen, and unwrapOr for a fluent API.
• Async Support: Handle asynchronous operations effortlessly with PendingOption and PendingResult.

This library acts as a bridge between Rust’s disciplined approach to safety and TypeScript’s flexibility, helping you write more predictable, maintainable, and error-resistant code. Whether you’re handling optional values or managing errors in synchronous or asynchronous contexts, @ts-rust/std empowers you to do so with confidence and clarity.

Installation

Install @ts-rust/std via npm, yarn, or pnpm:

npm install @ts-rust/std
yarn add @ts-rust/std
pnpm add @ts-rust/std
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Ensure you have TypeScript installed in your project, as this library relies on its type system for maximum benefit.

Usage

Here are some quick examples to get you started. For detailed documentation, see:

• TypeDoc documentation
• Option README
• Result README

Handling Optional Values with Option<T>

import { some, none, Option } from "@ts-rust/std";

function findUser(id: number): Option<string> {
  return id === 1 ? some("Alice") : none();
}

const user = findUser(1);
console.log(user.unwrapOr("Guest")); // "Alice"

const missingUser = findUser(2);
console.log(missingUser.unwrapOr("Guest")); // "Guest"
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Handling Errors with Result<T, E>

import { ok, err, Result } from "@ts-rust/std";

function divide(a: number, b: number): Result<number, string> {
  return b !== 0 ? ok(a / b) : err("Division by zero");
}

const success = divide(10, 2);
console.log(success.unwrapOr(0)); // 5

const failure = divide(10, 0);
console.log(failure.unwrapOr(0)); // 0
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Async Operations

For asynchronous workflows, use PendingOption and PendingResult, which wrap promises and provide similar methods for chaining operations:

import { pendingResult, ok, err } from "@ts-rust/std";

function fetchData(id: number): PendingResult<string, Error> {
  return pendingResult(async () => {
    try {
      const response = await fetch(
        `https://jsonplaceholder.typicode.com/users/${id}`,
      );
      const data = await response.json();
      return ok<{ name: string }, Error>(data as { name: string });
    } catch (error) {
      return err<{ name: string }, Error>(
        error instanceof Error ? error : new Error(`unknown error: ${error}`),
      );
    }
  })
    .map((data) => data.name)
    .inspectErr((error) => {
      console.error(`Failed to fetch data: ${error.get()}`);
    });
}

fetchData(1).then((result) => console.log(result.unwrapOr("Unknown")));
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Key Exports

• Option<T>, some, none: For handling optional values.
• Result<T, E>, ok, err: For handling success/error scenarios.
• PendingOption<T>, pendingOption, pendingSome, pendingNone: Async optional values.
• PendingResult<T, E>, pendingResult, pendingOk, pendingErr: Async success/error handling.

Contributing

We welcome contributions! If you find a bug or have a feature request:

1. Check the issue tracker to see if it’s already reported.
2. Open a new issue with a clear title, description, and reproduction steps (if applicable).
3. For code contributions, fork the repo, create a branch, and submit a pull request.

Please follow the code of conduct when interacting with the project.