Javascript Basics & Guidelines

A simple approach to follow while writing javascript

[Comments] (#comments)
[Types (Primitives)] (#datatypes)
[Arrays] (#arrays)
[Objects] (#objects)
[Strings] (#strings)
[Functions] (#functions)
[Variables] (#variables)
[Conditional Statements] (#conditional-statements)
[Comparison Operators] (#comparison-operators)
[Loops] (#loops)
[Prototypes] (#prototypes)

comments

comments: In javascript there are 2 types of comments
- Single line comment
- Multi line comment
```
//this is a single line comment

/*
  this is a multi line comment
*/
```

datatypes

Primitive data types:

number
string
boolean (true or false)
undefined
null

  var foo = 1; //number
  var bar = 'Hello World'; //string

Above primitive data type values are accessed directly without any reference.

Other datatypes: such as object, array are accessed by its reference

object
array

  var foo = [1, 'hello']; //array
  
  foo[0] = 1; //accessing array value by its reference
  
  var bar = {
    name: 'Hello World' 
  }; //object

  bar.name = 'Hello World'; //accessing object by its reference

An example for String

  function stringFunz(str) {
    str = 'bar';
  }

  var string = 'foo';
  console.log(string); // "foo"

  stringFunz(string);
  console.log(string); // "foo"

  //Above string still remains as `foo`

Now let's try it with a reference in object

function objectFunz(obj) {
  obj.name = 'bar';
}

var obj = {}; //New object

obj.name = 'foo';
console.log(obj.name); // "foo"

objectFunz(object);
console.log(obj.name); // "bar"

//See now the obj.name is changed to `bar`

⬆ back to top

arrays

Array creation using literal syntax

//Bad
var foo = New Array();

//Good
var foo = []; //array literal

Array starts at index 0

var bar = [1]; // array starts at index 0

console.log(bar[0]); //print 1

Add a new item to an array

var bar = [1];
bar.push(2); //adds 2 at the end of an array

console.log(bar); //print [1, 2]

Add a new item at start of an array

var bar = [1];
bar.unshift(2); //adds 2 before 1

console.log(bar); //print [2, 1]

Remove an item at start of an array

var bar = [4, 1, 2];
bar.shift(); //removes 4 from the start

console.log(bar); //print [1, 2]

Remove an item at the end of an array

var bar = [2, 1, 5];
bar.pop(); //removes 5 from the end

console.log(bar); //print [2, 1]

Get the length of an array

  var bar = [1, 2, 'hello'];

  console.log(bar.length); //print 3

⬆ back to top

objects

Object creation using literal syntax

  //bad
  var obj = new Object();
  
  //good
  var obj = {}; //empty object literal

Accessing an object

  var obj = {
    name: 'ABC',
    type: 'Alphabet',
    id: 123
  };

  console.log(obj.name); //print ABC

  console.log(obj['name']); //print ABC

Use better naming convension and don't use reserved keywords such as private, class etc.

  //bad
  var obj = {
    class: 'car'
  };

  //good
  var obj = {
    type: 'car'
  };

⬆ back to top

strings

Using single quote '' for strings

  //bad
  var bar = "Hello world";

  //good
  var bar = 'Hello world';

Using + to concatenate strings

  var bar = 'Hi I am ' + 'gokul';

⬆ back to top

functions

Function declarations

  function funz(name) {
    alert('My name is ' + name); //will alert my name is gokul
  }

  funz('gokul'); //call's the above function with argument

  var newFunz = new funz(); //creates an instance of the function funz

Function expressions

  //anonymous function
  var funz = function() {
    alert('I am a function too');
  };

  funz();
  
  //Named function expression
  var namedFunz = function funz() {
    alert('I am a function too');
  };

  namedFunz();

Immediately invoked function express (IIFE)

below function is called automatically

(function () {
  alert('I am a function which is invoked automatically');
})();

⬆ back to top

variables

Variable creation

//bad
foo = 1; //Stores 1 as global variable

//good
var foo = 1; //assigns number 1 to the variable foo

Local and Global variables

//global
var foo = 1; 

alert(foo); //will alert 1

function funz() {
  var bar = 10; //local variable
  console.log(bar); //print 10
  foo = 10; //changing the global variable value 1 to 10
}

funz(); //calling the function

alert(foo); //will alert 10

⬆ back to top

conditional statements

If, Else if, Else Statement

var a = false;
var b = true;

//If the below condition is true, call alert()
if (a) {
  alert('I am a if statement');
}
else if (b) {
  alert('I am else if statement'); //Will alert because b == true
}
else {
  alert('I am else statement');
}

⬆ back to top

comparison operators

Always use === instead of == and !== instead of !=

Difference is that === and !== will also check the type of the variable, See below example

var foo = 1;
var bar = '1';

console.log(foo == 1); //True, because `==` will do automatic type conversion

console.log(bar === 1); //False, because 1 !== '1'

console.log(bar === '1'); //True

console.log(bar !== 1); //True , '1' is not equal value as well as type

loops

for, for/in, while, do/while loop

-- for loop

for (statement 1; statement 2; statement 3) {
  
}

//statement 1 - Executes before the loop
//statement 2 - Condition to run the loop
//statement 3 - Executes each time after the loop

//See below for example

for (var i = 0; i < 10; i++) {
  console.log(i); //Will print from 0 to 9
}

-- for/in loop to loop through an array or object

for (var x in array or object)  {

}

//Looping through an array
var foo = [1, 2, 3, 4, 5];

for (var i in foo) {
  console.log(foo[i]); //Will loop the array and prints 1 to 5
}

//Looping through an object
var obj = { fname : 'gokul', lname : 'krishh'};

for (var name in obj) { 

  //To check property belongs to object, not to prototype object
  //hasOwnProperty is only to check objects
  
  if (obj.hasOwnProperty(name)) {
    console.log(obj[name]); //Will print "gokul" and "krishh"
  }

}

-- while loop

while (statement 1) {
  
}

//statement 1 - Condition to run the loop
//See below for example

var i = 0;

while (i < 10) {
  i++; //Increment i
  console.log(i); //Will print from 1 to 10
}

-- do/while loop will execute once, before checking the condition in while

do {
  //Execute once before checking while condition
} while(statement 1)

//statement 1 - Condition to run the loop
//See below for example

var i = 0;

do {
  console.log(i); //Will print from 0 to 10
  i++; //Increment i
} while (i < 10)

⬆ back to top

prototypes

In javascript function, array, objects are considered as objects
All objects in js inherit, properties and methods from the prototype

function person(name, age) {
  this.name = name;
  this.age  = age;
}

person.prototype.model = 'Car';

//model `car` is added to the person() from its prototype

var newPerson = new person('Gokul', 23); //calling the person()

console.log(newPerson); //Will print {name: "Gokul", age: 23, model: "Car"}