[typescript] Typescript: difference between String and string

Does anyone know the difference between String and string in TypeScript? Am I correct in assuming that they ought to be the same?

var a: String = "test";
var b: string = "another test";
a = b;
b = a; // this gives a compiler error!

Current version of the compiler says:

Type 'String' is not assignable to type 'string'.
  'string' is a primitive, but 'String' is a wrapper object.
     Prefer using 'string' when possible.

Is that a bug?

The two types are distinct in JavaScript as well as TypeScript - TypeScript just gives us syntax to annotate and check types as we go along.

String refers to an object instance that has String.prototype in its prototype chain. You can get such an instance in various ways e.g. new String('foo') and Object('foo'). You can test for an instance of the String type with the instanceof operator, e.g. myString instanceof String.

string is one of JavaScript's primitive types, and string values are primarily created with literals e.g. 'foo' and "bar", and as the result type of various functions and operators. You can test for string type using typeof myString === 'string'.

The vast majority of the time, string is the type you should be using - almost all API interfaces that take or return strings will use it. All JS primitive types will be wrapped (boxed) with their corresponding object types when using them as objects, e.g. accessing properties or calling methods. Since String is currently declared as an interface rather than a class in TypeScript's core library, structural typing means that string is considered a subtype of String which is why your first line passes compilation type checks.

TypeScript: String vs string

Argument of type 'String' is not assignable to parameter of type 'string'.

'string' is a primitive, but 'String' is a wrapper object.

Prefer using 'string' when possible.

demo

String Object

// error
class SVGStorageUtils {
  store: object;
  constructor(store: object) {
    this.store = store;
  }
  setData(key: String = ``, data: object) {
    sessionStorage.setItem(key, JSON.stringify(data));
  }
  getData(key: String = ``) {
    const obj = JSON.parse(sessionStorage.getItem(key));
  }
}

string primitive

// ok
class SVGStorageUtils {
  store: object;
  constructor(store: object) {
    this.store = store;
  }
  setData(key: string = ``, data: object) {
    sessionStorage.setItem(key, JSON.stringify(data));
  }
  getData(key: string = ``) {
    const obj = JSON.parse(sessionStorage.getItem(key));
  }
}

For quick readers:

Don’t ever use the types Number, String, Boolean, Symbol, or Object These types refer to non-primitive boxed objects that are almost never used appropriately in JavaScript code.

source: https://www.typescriptlang.org/docs/handbook/declaration-files/do-s-and-don-ts.html

In JavaScript strings can be either string primitive type or string objects. The following code shows the distinction:

var a: string = 'test'; // string literal
var b: String = new String('another test'); // string wrapper object

console.log(typeof a); // string
console.log(typeof b); // object

Your error:

Type 'String' is not assignable to type 'string'. 'string' is a primitive, but 'String' is a wrapper object. Prefer using 'string' when possible.

Is thrown by the TS compiler because you tried to assign the type string to a string object type (created via new keyword). The compiler is telling you that you should use the type string only for strings primitive types and you can't use this type to describe string object types.