any vs unknown — how do you handle unknown data?

any lets you skip type checking for a value. unknown requires checking the type before you use it.

function label(value: unknown): string {
  if (typeof value === 'string') return value.trim();
  if (typeof value === 'number') return String(value);
  return 'Unknown value';
}

In practice: I treat data from outside the app as unverified and validate its structure at runtime, with a type guard or a validation library.

Pitfall: data as User is a promise to the compiler, not a check of the data. Bad data can still reach the app.