How do I find an array item with TypeScript? (a modern, easier way)

Part One - Polyfill

For browsers that haven't implemented it, a polyfill for array.find. Courtesy of MDN.

if (!Array.prototype.find) {
  Array.prototype.find = function(predicate) {
    if (this == null) {
      throw new TypeError('Array.prototype.find called on null or undefined');
    }
    if (typeof predicate !== 'function') {
      throw new TypeError('predicate must be a function');
    }
    var list = Object(this);
    var length = list.length >>> 0;
    var thisArg = arguments[1];
    var value;

    for (var i = 0; i < length; i++) {
      value = list[i];
      if (predicate.call(thisArg, value, i, list)) {
        return value;
      }
    }
    return undefined;
  };
}

Part Two - Interface

You need to extend the open Array interface to include the find method.

interface Array<T> {
    find(predicate: (search: T) => boolean) : T;
}

When this arrives in TypeScript, you'll get a warning from the compiler that will remind you to delete this.

Part Three - Use it

The variable x will have the expected type... { id: number }

var x = [{ "id": 1 }, { "id": -2 }, { "id": 3 }].find(myObj => myObj.id < 0);

Playing with the tsconfig.json You can also targeting es5 like this :

{
    "compilerOptions": {
        "experimentalDecorators": true,
        "module": "commonjs", 
        "target": "es5"
    }
    ...

For some projects it's easier to set your target to es6 in your tsconfig.json.

{
  "compilerOptions": {
    "target": "es6",
    ...