I’m currently working with TypeScript version 1.5.2 on my development setup and I need to move to a more recent release like version 2.1.0 or whatever the current stable version is.
I know npm is the package manager for this but I’m not sure about the exact command to run. Should I use npm install or npm update? Do I need to uninstall the old version first?
I want to make sure I do this properly without breaking my existing projects. What’s the safest way to handle this upgrade using npm commands?
First, check what version you actually have with npm list -g typescript. People often think they’re running an old version when they’re actually looking at project-specific installs. Run npm install -g typescript@latest to upgrade, then use tsc --version to confirm it worked. Watch out for breaking changes if you’re on a team project - the newer version might break your codebase. I learned this the hard way jumping from 1.x to 2.x since there were major syntax changes that needed code updates.
Yeah, npm install -g typescript@latest works, but try npm update -g typescript first to see what version you’d get. If it doesn’t pull the latest, then use the install command. I’ve noticed the update command sometimes misses the newest release depending on your npm setup. Also, if you’ve got TypeScript installed locally in projects (not globally), you’ll need to update those separately with npm install typescript@latest in each project folder. Been burned by that - global was updated but project versions stayed old.
just run npm install -g typescript@latest to grab the newest version globally. npm does all the heavy lifting for you, no need to uninstall the old one. it should be smooth, but I’d suggest backing up ur projects just to be safe!