Add Generate An Initial tsconfig File as a TypeScript TIL

Author: jbranchaud

README.md

@@ -10,7 +10,7 @@ pairing with smart people at Hashrocket.
 
 For a steady stream of TILs, [sign up for my newsletter](https://crafty-builder-6996.ck.page/e169c61186).
 
-_1313 TILs and counting..._
+_1314 TILs and counting..._
 
 ---
 
@@ -1212,6 +1212,7 @@ _1313 TILs and counting..._
 - [Create Union Type From Constants](typescript/create-union-type-from-constants.md)
 - [Extract Object Type Keys Into A Union Type](typescript/extract-object-type-keys-into-a-union-type.md)
 - [Extract Object Type Values Into A Union Type](typescript/extract-object-type-values-into-a-union-type.md)
+- [Generate An Initial tsconfig File](typescript/generate-an-initial-tsconfig-file.md)
 - [Generate Inferred Type From Zod Schema](typescript/generate-inferred-type-from-zod-schema.md)
 - [Get The Return Type Of An Async Function](typescript/get-the-return-type-of-an-async-function.md)
 - [Interfaces With The Same Name Are Merged](typescript/interfaces-with-the-same-name-are-merged.md)

typescript/generate-an-initial-tsconfig-file.md

@@ -0,0 +1,48 @@
+# Generate An Initial tsconfig File
+
+A new `tsconfig.json` file can be generated using the `tsc` CLI which is part
+of the `typescript` node package.
+
+You'll first want to add `typescript` to your project:
+
+```bash
+$ npm install typescript --save-dev
+```
+
+Since it is a local project dependency, you'll want to add `tsc` as a script in
+your `package.json`.
+
+```json
+"scripts": {
+  "tsc": "tsc"
+}
+```
+
+Now you can use `npm` to run `tsc --init` like so:
+
+```bash
+$ npm run tsc -- --init
+```
+
+Notice the delimiting `--` which tells `npm` to pass the remaining arguments to
+the command being invoked. This makes sure `--init` gets passed as an argument
+to `tsc`.
+
+This will generate a huge, mostly commented-out `tsconfig.json` file full of
+annotations that looks something like this:
+
+```json
+{
+  "compilerOptions": {
+    /* Visit https://aka.ms/tsconfig to read more about this file */
+
+    /* Projects */
+    // "incremental": true,                              /* Save .tsbuildinfo files to allow for incremental compilation of projects. */
+    /* ... */
+
+    /* Language and Environment */
+    "target": "es2016",                                  /* Set the JavaScript language version for emitted JavaScript and include compatible library declarations. */
+    /* ... */
+  }
+}
+```