Variables

Variables

  • 13.1 Always use const or let to declare variables. Not doing so will result in global variables. We want to avoid polluting the global namespace. Captain Planet warned us of that. eslint: no-undef prefer-const

    // bad
superPower = new SuperPower();

// good
const superPower = new SuperPower();

  • 13.2 Use one const or let declaration per variable. eslint: one-var jscs: disallowMultipleVarDecl

    Why? It’s easier to add new variable declarations this way, and you never have to worry about swapping out a ; for a , or introducing punctuation-only diffs. You can also step through each declaration with the debugger, instead of jumping through all of them at once.

    // bad
const items = getItems(),
    goSportsTeam = true,
    dragonball = 'z';

// bad
// (compare to above, and try to spot the mistake)
const items = getItems(),
    goSportsTeam = true;
    dragonball = 'z';

// good
const items = getItems();
const goSportsTeam = true;
const dragonball = 'z';

  • 13.3 Group all your consts and then group all your lets.

    Why? This is helpful when later on you might need to assign a variable depending on one of the previous assigned variables.

    // bad
let i, len, dragonball,
    items = getItems(),
    goSportsTeam = true;

// bad
let i;
const items = getItems();
let dragonball;
const goSportsTeam = true;
let len;

// good
const goSportsTeam = true;
const items = getItems();
let dragonball;
let i;
let length;

  • 13.4 Assign variables where you need them, but place them in a reasonable place.

    Why? let and const are block scoped and not function scoped.

    // bad - unnecessary function call
function checkName(hasName) {
  const name = getName();

  if (hasName === 'test') {
    return false;
  }

  if (name === 'test') {
    this.setName('');
    return false;
  }

  return name;
}

// good
function checkName(hasName) {
  if (hasName === 'test') {
    return false;
  }

  const name = getName();

  if (name === 'test') {
    this.setName('');
    return false;
  }

  return name;
}

  • 13.5 Don’t chain variable assignments.

    Why? Chaining variable assignments creates implicit global variables.

    // bad
(function example() {
  // JavaScript interprets this as
  // let a = ( b = ( c = 1 ) );
  // The let keyword only applies to variable a; variables b and c become
  // global variables.
  let a = b = c = 1;
}());

console.log(a); // throws ReferenceError
console.log(b); // 1
console.log(c); // 1

// good
(function example() {
  let a = 1;
  let b = a;
  let c = a;
}());

console.log(a); // throws ReferenceError
console.log(b); // throws ReferenceError
console.log(c); // throws ReferenceError

// the same applies for `const`

  • 13.6 Avoid using unary increments and decrements (++, –). eslint no-plusplus

    Why? Per the eslint documentation, unary increment and decrement statements are subject to automatic semicolon insertion and can cause silent errors with incrementing or decrementing values within an application. It is also more expressive to mutate your values with statements like num += 1 instead of num++ or num ++. Disallowing unary increment and decrement statements also prevents you from pre-incrementing/pre-decrementing values unintentionally which can also cause unexpected behavior in your programs.

    // bad

const array = [1, 2, 3];
let num = 1;
num++;
--num;

let sum = 0;
let truthyCount = 0;
for (let i = 0; i < array.length; i++) {
  let value = array[i];
  sum += value;
  if (value) {
    truthyCount++;
  }
}

// good

const array = [1, 2, 3];
let num = 1;
num += 1;
num -= 1;

const sum = array.reduce((a, b) => a + b, 0);
const truthyCount = array.filter(Boolean).length;

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