> For the complete documentation index, see [llms.txt](https://shopify-1.gitbook.io/typescript/llms.txt). Markdown versions of documentation pages are available by appending `.md` to page URLs; this page is available as [Markdown](https://shopify-1.gitbook.io/typescript/beginner/basic-types/any-type.md).

# Any type

The `any` type allows you to opt-out of type-checking during compilation.

```typescript
let notSure: any = 13;
notSure = "maybe a string instead";
notSure = false; // OK, guess it's a boolean
```

The `any` type is handy if you know some part of the type, but perhaps not all of it. For example, you may have an array but the array has a mix of different types:

```typescript
const myList: any[] = [13, 'Blue Streak is a film from 1999', false];
```

Note: using `any` should be avoided when possible. By opting out of type-checking we lose out on the advantages of having a static type system, [as discussed earlier](https://github.com/shopify/typescript/tree/9613b2fbeb75125a3b75af1f88bee26f07071d04/intro/why-typescript.md).