Replace First

Problem Link

Problem

Implement the type ReplaceFirst<T, S, R> which will replace the first occurrence of S in a tuple type T with R. If no S is found in T, T is returned unchanged.

type T0 = ReplaceFirst<[1, 2, 3], 3, 4>    // [1, 2, 4]
type T1 = ReplaceFirst<[1, 2, 3], 1, 4>    // [4, 2, 3]
type T2 = ReplaceFirst<[1, 2, 3], 5, 0>    // [1, 2, 3]
type T3 = ReplaceFirst<[1, 2, 2, 3], 2, 4> // [1, 4, 2, 3] — only first occurrence

Solution

type ReplaceFirst<T extends readonly unknown[], S, R, Found extends boolean = false> =
  T extends [infer First, ...infer Rest]
    ? Found extends true
      ? [First, ...ReplaceFirst<Rest, S, R, true>]
      : [First] extends [S]
        ? [S] extends [First]
          ? [R, ...ReplaceFirst<Rest, S, R, true>]
          : [First, ...ReplaceFirst<Rest, S, R, false>]
        : [First, ...ReplaceFirst<Rest, S, R, false>]
    : []

How it works:

1. Traverse the tuple element by element.
2. Use the Found flag to track whether a replacement has already been made.
3. Once Found is true, copy remaining elements unchanged.
4. For the equality check, use [First] extends [S] and [S] extends [First] (wrapped in [] to avoid distribution) to perform an exact match.
5. On the first match, emit R and set Found to true.

Key Takeaways

• A boolean accumulator (Found) cleanly implements “only the first occurrence” semantics without extra complexity.
• Bidirectional extends wrapped in [] is the standard exact-equality check for conditional types.
• Once Found = true, the rest of the recursion is just a copy — no more comparisons needed.