DeepReadonly Object Typescript

It is possible to create a DeepReadonly type like this:

type DeepReadonly<T> = {
  readonly [P in keyof T]: DeepReadonly<T[P]>;
};

interface A {
  B: { C: number; };
  D: { E: number; }[];
}

const myDeepReadonlyObject: DeepReadonly<A> = {
  B: { C: 1 },
  D: [ { E: 2 } ],
}

myDeepReadonlyObject.B = { C: 2 }; // error :)
myDeepReadonlyObject.B.C = 2; // error :)

This is great. Both B and B.C are readonly. When I try to modify D however...

// I'd like this to be an error
myDeepReadonlyObject.D[0] = { E: 3 }; // no error :(

How should I write DeepReadonly so that nested arrays are readonly as well?

As of TypeScript 2.8, this is now possible and actually an example in the PR for Conditional Types: https://github.com/Microsoft/TypeScript/pull/21316

Also see the notes on type inference for Conditional Types: https://github.com/Microsoft/TypeScript/pull/21496

I modified the example slightly to use the type inference for the readonly array value type because I find (infer R)[] clearer than Array<T[number]> but both syntaxes work. I also removed the example NonFunctionPropertyNames bit as I want to preserve functions in my output.

type DeepReadonly<T> =
    T extends (infer R)[] ? DeepReadonlyArray<R> :
    T extends Function ? T :
    T extends object ? DeepReadonlyObject<T> :
    T;

interface DeepReadonlyArray<T> extends ReadonlyArray<DeepReadonly<T>> {}

type DeepReadonlyObject<T> = {
    readonly [P in keyof T]: DeepReadonly<T[P]>;
};

Doing DeepReadonly this way also preserves optional fields (thanks to Mariusz for letting me know), e.g.:

interface A {
    x?: number;
    y: number;
}

type RA = DeepReadonly<A>;

// RA is effectively typed as such:
interface RA {
    readonly x?: number;
    readonly y: number;
}

While TS still has some easy ways to lose "readonly-ness" in certain scenarios, this is as close to a C/C++ style const value as you will get.

You might want to use ts-essentials package for that:

import { DeepReadonly } from "ts-essentials";

const myDeepReadonlyObject: DeepReadonly<A> = {
  B: { C: 1 },
  D: [ { E: 2 } ],
}