🛠️ @useless-engineer/utils

Small, typed utilities distilled from real production bugs. One package. Multiple entry points. Only pay for what you import.

📦 Install · ⚡ Quick start · 📚 API · 🗺️ Roadmap · 📸 Follow

✨ Why this exists

Every utility here started as an Instagram post about a bug that actually shipped. The post explains the problem; this package is the fix, typed and tested, so you never copy-paste it again.

| | | | ------------------------ | ------------------------------------------------------ | | 🎯 Focused | Each function does one thing and has tests | | 🌲 Tree-shakeable | sideEffects: false, import only what you use | | 🧩 Split by platform | Core, React Native, and more, each its own import path | | 🔒 Strictly typed | Written in TypeScript with strict mode on |

📦 Install

npm install @useless-engineer/utils

pnpm add @useless-engineer/utils
yarn add @useless-engineer/utils
bun add @useless-engineer/utils

⚡ Quick start

import { debounce, throttle } from "@useless-engineer/utils";

const onSearch = debounce((query: string) => fetchResults(query), 300);
const onScroll = throttle(() => updateHeader(), 100);

import { isIOS, isAndroid } from "@useless-engineer/utils/react-native";

const padding = isIOS ? 20 : 16;

💡 react and react-native are optional peer dependencies. If you only use the core entry, you never need to install either.

🧭 Entry points

| Import path | For | Status | | -------------------------------------- | ------------------------- | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- | | @useless-engineer/utils | Platform-agnostic helpers | | | @useless-engineer/utils/react-native | React Native helpers | | | @useless-engineer/utils/react | React hooks | |

📚 API

Core

Waits for quiet. Every call resets the timer, and only the last call fires. Good for search inputs and autosave.

const save = debounce((text: string) => api.save(text), 500);

save("h");
save("he");
save("hello"); // only this one runs, 500ms after the last call

// In a React effect cleanup, so nothing fires after unmount:
save.cancel();

| Param | Type | Description | | ----------- | ------------------- | ----------------------------------- | | fn | (...args) => void | Function to debounce | | delay | number | Milliseconds of quiet before firing | | returns | Debounced | Callable with a .cancel() method |

Keeps a steady beat. Runs at most once per interval, however often it's called. Good for scroll, drag, and resize.

const onScroll = throttle(() => updateHeader(), 100);

// Skip the immediate first call:
throttle(fn, 100, { leading: false });

// Skip the final catch-up call:
throttle(fn, 100, { trailing: false });

| Option | Default | Description | | ---------- | ------- | --------------------------------------------------- | | leading | true | Fire right away on the first call of a burst | | trailing | true | Fire once more at the end with the latest arguments |

Returns a function with .cancel().

| | debounce | throttle | | ------------ | --------------------------------- | -------------------------------- | | Fires | Once, after calls stop | On a fixed beat during calls | | Use for | Search box, autosave, validation | Scroll, drag, resize | | Ask yourself | "Do I only need the final state?" | "Does it need to stay live?" |

React Native

Plain booleans derived from Platform.OS.

import { isIOS, isAndroid } from "@useless-engineer/utils/react-native";

const behavior = isIOS ? "padding" : "height";

🗺️ Roadmap

Released one or two at a time, each matching a post that's already live.

| Next up | Entry | Origin | | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ | ------------ | ------------------------------------ | | safeParseJSON, safeStringify, deepClone | core | JSON and shallow-copy gotchas | | getAccessibilityProps, createShadow | react-native | Accessibility and iOS-only shadows | | useInterval, useCountdown, useIsMounted | react | Stale closures and unmounted updates |

🤝 Contributing

Found a bug or have a post idea that deserves a utility? Open an issue.

npm install
npm test
npm run build

Built from real bugs, one post at a time.

MIT © Saurabh Bandkar