Javascript tricks You've Never Heard About : Part 1
Blackkspydo
0 views 4 reactions 2022-10-12
JavaScript is a feature-rich language. It has a lot of features that are not well known. In this article, I will show you JavaScript tricks that you’ve never heard about. Let’s Explore some of them:
1. Destructuring
With the help of destructuring, you can do awesome things like:
1.1. Swap variables
If you ever need to swap two variables. You can do it with the help of destructuring, provided that the variables are declared with let
, or var
but not const
.
Also, you should be using ES6 or above.
let a = 1;
let b = 2;
[a, b] = [b, a];
console.log(a, b); // 2 1
1.2. Accessing nested objects
Previously, if you wanted to access a nested object, you would have to do something like this:
const obj = {
a: {
b: {
c: 1
}
}
};
const value = obj.a.b.c;
console.log(value); // 1
But now, with the help of destructuring, you can do it in a much simpler way:
const obj = {
a: {
b: {
c: 1
}
}
};
const { a: { b: { c } } } = obj;
console.log(c); // 1
const { a: { b: { c:value } } } = obj;
// and yes, you can rename the variable
console.log(value); // 1
1.3. Pass an object as function parameters
If you want to pass different parameters to a function, why not pass an object instead? It will make your code more readable. and you can use destructuring to access the properties of the object.
function foo({ a, b, c }) {
console.log(a, b, c);
}
foo({ a: 1, b: 2, c: 3 }); // 1 2 3
2. Spread & Rest Operators
2.1. Spread Operator
The spread operator ...
is used to spread an array into its elements. It can also be used to spread an object into key-value pairs.
const arr = [1, 2, 3];
console.log(...arr); // 1 2 3
const obj = { a: 1, b: 2, c: 3 };
console.log(...obj); // a b c
2.1.1. Spread in function calls
You can use the spread operator to pass an array as arguments to a function.
function foo(a, b, c) {
console.log(a, b, c);
}
const arr = [1, 2, 3];
foo(...arr); // 1 2 3
2.1.2. Spread in array literals
You can use the spread operator to create a new array from an existing array.
const arr = [1, 2, 3];
const arr2 = [...arr, 4, 5, 6];
console.log(arr2); // [1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6]
2.1.3. Spread in object literals
You can use the spread operator to create a new object from an existing object.
const obj = { a: 1, b: 2, c: 3 };
const obj2 = { ...obj, d: 4, e: 5, f: 6 };
console.log(obj2); // { a: 1, b: 2, c: 3, d: 4, e: 5, f: 6 }
2.2. Rest Operator
The rest operator ...
is used to collect multiple elements and put them into an array. It can also be used to collect multiple key-value pairs and put them into an object.
const arr = [1, 2, 3, 4, 5];
const [a, b, ...rest] = arr;
console.log(a, b, rest); // 1 2 [3, 4, 5]
const obj = { a: 1, b: 2, c: 3, d: 4, e: 5 };
const { a, b, ...rest } = obj;
console.log(a, b, rest); // 1 2 { c: 3, d: 4, e: 5 }
3. Ternary Operator
The ternary operator is the only operator that takes three operands. It is often used as a shortcut for the if
statement.
const a = 1;
const b = 2;
const c = a > b ? a : b;
console.log(c); // 2
4. Template Literals
Template literals are string literals allowing embedded expressions. You can use multi-line strings and string interpolation features with them.
const name = "John";
const age = 20;
const str = `Hello, my name is ${name}
I'm ${age} years old.`;
console.log(str);
// Hello, my name is John
// I'm 20 years old.
5. Short-circuiting
Short-circuiting is a way to make your code more readable. It is a way to use logical operators in a way that they return the value of one of the specified operands, instead of always returning true
or false
.
5.1. Logical AND (&&)
The logical AND operator (&&
) returns the value of the first operand if it can be converted to false
; otherwise, it returns the value of the second operand.
const a = 1;
const b = 2;
const c = a && b;
console.log(c); // 2
5.2. Logical OR (||)
The logical OR operator (||
) returns the value of the first operand if it can be converted to true
; otherwise, it returns the value of the second operand.
const a = 1;
const b = 2;
const c = a || b;
console.log(c); // 1
5.3. Nullish Coalescing Operator (??)
The nullish coalescing operator (??
) returns its right-hand side operand when its left-hand side operand is null
or undefined
, and otherwise returns its left-hand side operand.
The main difference between ||
and ??
is that ||
returns the right-hand side operand if the left-hand side operand is false
, whereas ??
returns the right-hand side operand if the left-hand side operand is null
or undefined
.
const a = 1;
const b = 2;
const c = a ?? b;
console.log(c); // 1
6. Immediately Invoked Function Expression (IIFE)
An IIFE (Immediately Invoked Function Expression) is a JavaScript function that runs as soon as it is defined. One of the most common uses of an IIFE is to execute a function without polluting the global scope.
(function () {
console.log("Hello, World!");
})();
// Hello, World!
7. Comma Operator
The comma operator (,
) is used to evaluate each of its operands (from left to right) and return the value of the last operand.
const a = 1;
const b = 2;
const c = 3;
const d = a, c = a + b + c, c;
console.log(d); // 6
8. Optional Chaining
Previously, if you wanted to access a property of an object that might be undefined
or null
, you would have to check if the object exists first.
For example:
const obj = { a: { b: 1 } };
if (obj && obj.a && obj.a.b) {
console.log(obj.a.b); // 1
}
With the optional chaining operator (?.
), you can access properties of nested objects without having to check if the parent objects exist. If the reference is undefined
or null
, the expression short-circuits with a return value of undefined
.
const obj = {
a: {
b: {
c: 1,
},
},
};
const c = obj?.a?.b?.c;
console.log(c); // 1
9. Double Bang (!!) Operator
The double bang operator (!!
) is used to convert any value to a boolean. It is often used to convert a value to a boolean in a shorter way.
const a = 1;
const b = !!a;
console.log(b); // true
10. Double Tilde (~~) Operator
The double tilde operator (~~
) is used to convert any value to an integer. It is often used to convert a value to an integer in a shorter way.
const a = 1.5;
const b = ~~a;
console.log(b); // 1
Thank you so much for taking the time to read the blog post! I appreciate it, and I hope you found it helpful/informative. If you have any questions or comments, feel free to leave them below, and I’ll be happy to answer them. Again, thank you for reading, and have a great day!