Are strongly-typed functions as parameters possible in TypeScript?

In TypeScript, I can declare a parameter of a function as a type Function. Is there a "type-safe" way of doing this that I am missing? For example, consider this:

class Foo {
    save(callback: Function) : void {
        //Do the save
        var result : number = 42; //We get a number from the save operation
        //Can I at compile-time ensure the callback accepts a single parameter of type number somehow?
        callback(result);
    }
}

var foo = new Foo();
var callback = (result: string) : void => {
    alert(result);
}
foo.save(callback);

The save callback is not type safe, I am giving it a callback function where the function's parameter is a string but I am passing it a number, and compiles with no errors. Can I make the result parameter in save a type-safe function?

TL;DR version: is there an equivalent of a .NET delegate in TypeScript?

Sure. A function's type consists of the types of its argument and its return type. Here we specify that the callback parameter's type must be "function that accepts a number and returns type any":

class Foo {
    save(callback: (n: number) => any) : void {
		callback(42);
    }
}
var foo = new Foo();

var strCallback = (result: string) : void => {
    alert(result);
}
var numCallback = (result: number) : void => {
    alert(result.toString());
}

foo.save(strCallback); // not OK
foo.save(numCallback); // OK

If you want, you can define a type alias to encapsulate this:

type NumberCallback = (n: number) => any;

class Foo {
    // Equivalent
    save(callback: NumberCallback) : void {
		callback(42);
    }
}

Here are TypeScript equivalents of some common .NET delegates:

interface Action<T>
{
    (item: T): void;
}

interface Func<T,TResult>
{
    (item: T): TResult;
}

type FunctionName = (n: inputType) => any;

class ClassName {
    save(callback: FunctionName) : void {
        callback(data);
    }
}

This surely aligns with the functional programming paradigm.

I realize this post is old, but there's a more compact approach that is slightly different than what was asked, but may be a very helpful alternative. You can essentially declare the function in-line when calling the method (Foo's save() in this case). It would look something like this:

class Foo {
    save(callback: (n: number) => any) : void {
        callback(42)
    }

    multipleCallbacks(firstCallback: (s: string) => void, secondCallback: (b: boolean) => boolean): void {
        firstCallback("hello world")

        let result: boolean = secondCallback(true)
        console.log("Resulting boolean: " + result)
    }
}

var foo = new Foo()

// Single callback example.
// Just like with @RyanCavanaugh's approach, ensure the parameter(s) and return
// types match the declared types above in the `save()` method definition.
foo.save((newNumber: number) => {
    console.log("Some number: " + newNumber)

    // This is optional, since "any" is the declared return type.
    return newNumber
})

// Multiple callbacks example.
// Each call is on a separate line for clarity.
// Note that `firstCallback()` has a void return type, while the second is boolean.
foo.multipleCallbacks(
    (s: string) => {
         console.log("Some string: " + s)
    },
    (b: boolean) => {
        console.log("Some boolean: " + b)
        let result = b && false

        return result
    }
)

The multipleCallback() approach is very useful for things like network calls that may succeed or fail. Again assuming a network call example, when multipleCallbacks() is called, behavior for both a success and failure can be defined in one spot, which lends itself to greater clarity for future code readers.

Generally, in my experience, this approach lends itself to being more concise, less clutter, and greater clarity overall.

Good luck all!

In TS we can type functions in the in the following manners:

Functions types/signatures

This is used for real implementations of functions/methods it has the following syntax:

(arg1: Arg1type, arg2: Arg2type) : ReturnType

Example:

function add(x: number, y: number): number {
    return x + y;
}

class Date {
  setTime(time: number): number {
   // ...
  }

}

Function Type Literals

Function type literals are another way to declare the type of a function. They're usually applied in the function signature of a higher-order function. A higher-order function is a function which accepts functions as parameters or which returns a function. It has the following syntax:

(arg1: Arg1type, arg2: Arg2type) => ReturnType

Example:

type FunctionType1 = (x: string, y: number) => number;

class Foo {
    save(callback: (str: string) => void) {
       // ...
    }
    
    doStuff(callback: FunctionType1) {
       // ...
    }

}

If you define function type first then it would be looked like

type Callback = (n: number) => void;

class Foo {
    save(callback: Callback) : void {        
        callback(42);
    }
}

var foo = new Foo();
var stringCallback = (result: string) : void => {
    console.log(result);
}

var numberCallback = (result: number) : void => {
    console.log(result);
}

foo.save(stringCallback); //--will be showing error
foo.save(numberCallback);

Without function type by using plain property syntax it would be:

class Foo {
    save(callback: (n: number) => void) : void {        
        callback(42);
    }
}

var foo = new Foo();
var stringCallback = (result: string) : void => {
    console.log(result);
}

var numberCallback = (result: number) : void => {
    console.log(result);
}

foo.save(stringCallback); //--will be showing error
foo.save(numberCallback);

If you want by using an interface function like c# generic delegates it would be:

interface CallBackFunc<T, U>
{
    (input:T): U;
};

class Foo {
    save(callback: CallBackFunc<number,void>) : void {        
        callback(42);
    }
}

var foo = new Foo();
var stringCallback = (result: string) : void => {
    console.log(result);
}

var numberCallback = (result: number) : void => {
    console.log(result);
}

let strCBObj:CallBackFunc<string,void> = stringCallback;
let numberCBObj:CallBackFunc<number,void> = numberCallback;

foo.save(strCBObj); //--will be showing error
foo.save(numberCBObj);

Because you can't easily union a function definition and another data type, I find having these types around useful to strongly type them. Based on Drew's answer.

type Func<TArgs extends any[], TResult> = (...args: TArgs) => TResult; 
//Syntax sugar
type Action<TArgs extends any[]> = Func<TArgs, undefined>; 

Now you can strongly type every parameter and the return type! Here's an example with more parameters than what is above.

save(callback: Func<[string, Object, boolean], number>): number
{
    let str = "";
    let obj = {};
    let bool = true;
    let result: number = callback(str, obj, bool);
    return result;
}

Now you can write a union type, like an object or a function returning an object, without creating a brand new type that may need to be exported or consumed.

//THIS DOESN'T WORK
let myVar1: boolean | (parameters: object) => boolean;

//This works, but requires a type be defined each time
type myBoolFunc = (parameters: object) => boolean;
let myVar1: boolean | myBoolFunc;

//This works, with a generic type that can be used anywhere
let myVar2: boolean | Func<[object], boolean>;

function callbackTesting(callbacks: {onYes: (data: any) => void,onNo: (data: any) => void,onError: (err: any) => void,}, type: String){
    switch(type){
        case "one": 
        callbacks.onYes("Print yes");
        break;
        case "two": 
        callbacks.onNo("Print no");
        break;
        default:
        callbacks.onError("Print error");
        break;
    }
}

const onYes1 = (data: any) : void => {
    console.log(data);
}
const onNo1 = (data: any) : void => {
    console.log(data);
}
const onError1 = (data: any) : void => {
    console.log(data);
}



callbackTesting({onYes: function (data: any)  {onYes1(data);},onNo: function (data: any)  {onNo1(data);},onError: function (data: any)  {onError1(data);}}, "one");

callbackTesting({onYes: function (data: any)  {onYes1(data);},onNo: function (data: any)  {onNo1(data);},onError: function (data: any)  {onError1(data);}}, "two");

callbackTesting({onYes: function (data: any)  {onYes1(data);},onNo: function (data: any)  {onNo1(data);},onError: function (data: any)  {onError1(data);}}, "cfhvgjbhkjlkm");

Besides what other said, a common problem is to declare the types of the same function that is overloaded. Typical case is EventEmitter on() method which will accept multiple kind of listeners. Similar could happen When working with redux actions - and there you use the action type as literal to mark the overloading, In case of EventEmitters, you use the event name literal type:

interface MyEmitter extends EventEmitter {
  on(name:'click', l: ClickListener):void
  on(name:'move', l: MoveListener):void
  on(name:'die', l: DieListener):void
  //and a generic one
  on(name:string, l:(...a:any[])=>any):void
}

type ClickListener = (e:ClickEvent)=>void
type MoveListener = (e:MoveEvent)=>void
... etc

// will type check the correct listener when writing something like:
myEmitter.on('click', e=>...<--- autocompletion