# TypeScript: Any, Unknown and Never

In this blog, we'll explore some unique TypeScript annotations. We will look at the functioning of type annotations and learn a bit about them.

#### 1\. `any`

`Any`is like an escape hatch; it can be used when you are not sure about a type. When you use any type annotation, you are just saying to TypeScript:

> "Hey typescript, I don't have any idea about this type. So don't bother to check this type."

You should avoid `any` annotation for as long as possible. Using `any` is similar to using javascript without type safety.

Following is an example of `any` :

```typescript
let a:any = "Hello world"

// We lost type safety!
a = 123;

const myFunctions = (args: any) => {
 // .. 
// ...
}
```

#### 2\. `unknown`

When you use unknown type annotation you are just saying to TypeScript

> "Hey typescript, I'm not sure about this type, but please remind me to check it during runtime."

By checking types at runtime, we can ensure that we are not writing any buggy code.

```typescript
const myFun = (args: unknown) => {

   // this will give you an error since the type is unknown.
   const length = args.length;

  // we are checking if args is having string type or not.
    if(typeof args === "string") {
           return args.slice(0,2);
    }
}
```

`unknown` is like a safeguard. Even though we are not aware of type. We are making sure that we are writing type-safe codes.

##### 3\. `never`

`Never` is useful when you are working with type manipulation. `Never` simply means that the type doesn't exist anymore.

`Never` is used to filter types and perform error handling. Let's assume we are writing a function, and we are sure that this function will throw an error. Since this function is not returning anything and our program will likely be stopped, we can assign `never` as the return type.

```typescript
const crashCode = () :never => {
     throw new Error("Boom...");
}
```

This example might not make sense to you now, but there are plenty of situations in which `never` can be really useful.

You are now aware of the specific type annotations. This will aid in understanding complex typescript ideas such as utility types, type of types, condition types, and so on. Keep an eye out for future blogs.

Thank you for taking the time to read this blog.