How to Set Up a Node.js TypeScript Backend from Scratch

If you've been writing JavaScript for a while, you've probably heard people talk about TypeScript. It adds static types to JavaScript, which means you catch bugs before running your code, get better autocomplete in your editor, and write more self-documenting code. In this post, we'll set up a clean Node.js + Express backend using TypeScript from scratch, the same setup I use as a starting point for my own projects. By the end, you'll have: An Express server running TypeScript Hot-reload in development (save a file and server restarts automatically) A clean separation between dev and production workflows Prerequisites: Node.js installed, basic JavaScript knowledge. That's it. Step 1 — Initialize the Project Create a new folder for your project and initialize a package.json: mkdir my-backend && cd my-backend pnpm init Don't have pnpm? Install it with npm install -g pnpm, or just replace pnpm with npm throughout this post. Step 2 — Install Dependencies Install the production depe