Describe the 'never' type in TypeScript

Instruction: Explain the 'never' type and its usage in TypeScript.

Context: This question tests the candidate's understanding of the 'never' type in TypeScript and their ability to explain its use in representing values that never occur, useful in type guarding and exhaustive checks.

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First and foremost, the 'never' type represents the type of values that never occur. That is to say, it's used in situations where you're dealing with code that should not exist or return. For example, in function expressions that always throw an exception or infinite loops which never exit, the return type is 'never'. This is crucial for type safety, ensuring that functions behave as expected without leading to unhandled states.

Now, let's talk about its usage, especially in type guarding and exhaustive checks, which are integral parts of TypeScript's type system aimed at making our applications more error-resistant. In type guarding, 'never' helps in narrowing down the type of a variable within conditional blocks. Suppose you have a union type and...

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