9 JavaScript Best Practices

9 JavaScript Best Practices

JavaScript Best Practices to make your coding more simplified

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JavaScript is one of the most popular programming language in today's date due to its flexibility and large community of developers. It's not straightforward to start with as a beginner but you can be a full-stack web developer by mastering it. Here are some best practices that will boost your ability as a JavaScript developer.

  1. Use strict mode:

Strict mode eliminates some silent errors from our code, to impose strict mode we use use strict keyword at the beginning of our code. It prevents the developers from making unwanted errors for example undeclared variables. Strict mode makes it easier to write "secure" JavaScript.

"use strict";
x = 1;       // This will throw an error because x is not declared
  1. Use let and const instead of var
  • var uses something called ‘hoisting’, which can lead to unexpected results.

  • let and const are both block-scoped. This means you can declare them in for loop or if statement and they will only be valid for that block. This helps with spotting bugs and makes your code more robust.

  • const prevents variable re-assignment.

Unless you are targeting older environments, there’s no need anymore to use var.

let hello = "Hello World!";

const pi = 3.14;
  1. use '===' instead of '=='

\=== Strict equality

\== Loose equality

Double equals (==) will perform a type conversion when comparing two things but triple equals (===) will not perform type conversion while comparing two values.

let a = 1; //number
let b = '1'; //string

console.log(a == b);
//output: true

console.log(a === b);
//output: false
  1. Add comments but as much as needed

Adding comments to your code helps other developers to understand your code better and helps you in the future when you revist your code after some time. But commenting unnecessary things in your code makes it look very cluttered and messy. And it's not a habit of a good developer, you should only add comments which are necessary and to the point and you should keep 2 things in mind if you are commenting multiple lines then use /* */ and if you are commenting single line use // . So that developers won't accidentally remove your comments and make it problematic.

//single line comment
/* Multi line
comment */
  1. Avoid heavy nesting

Not only in JavaScript but also in every programming language heavy nesting is not a good practice. Nesting code explains its logic and makes it much easier to read, however nesting it too far can also make it hard to follow what you are trying to do.

  1. Global variables

Variables declared outside of the function have global scope. Avoid using global variables, as they can cause naming collisions and are considered poor coding practices.

// global variable
let hello = "Hello World!";

function showHello() {
  console.log(hello); // Hello World!
}
  1. Use arrow functions

Arrow functions were introduced in ES6. It allow us to write shorter function.

let add = (a, b) => a + b;
  1. Modular Code

Modules are small units of independent, reusable code that are desired to be used as the building blocks in a JavaScript application. It will be easy to maintain and test your code if you use modular approach.

function add(a, b) {
  return a + b;
}
function subtract(a, b) {
  return a - b;
}
console.log(add(1, 2)); // 3
console.log(subtract(1, 2)); // -1
  1. Use template literals

Template literals are enclosed in backtick (`` ) characters rather than double or single quotes. Through the use of template literals, variables and expressions can be easily interpolated into strings. The method is called “string interpolation.”

let name = "John Doe";
console.log(`Hello ${name}!`); // Hello John Doe!

I hope you find it useful, let me know your thoughts on this in the comments. If you have any issues or questions about it, feel free to contact me. Thank you 🌟 for reading! like, share and subscribe to my newsletter for more! 💖

🔗Debasish Lenka

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