hackyourfuture.dk

Week 1

Learning goals

Focus on how to read documentation, google answers and google errors

Relevant links

Variables

A "variable" is a place where you can store information, such as a string, or a number. New variables in JavaScript are declared using one of three keywords: let, const, or var.

Think of variables names like labels on boxes, while the value of the variable are the contents of the box - you could change the contents of a box and leave the label intact, the contents of the boxes can have different types, the boxes should have good labels (a box of books being labelled pens would be very confusing),

Variables are like boxes Photo from Khan Academy

Variable declaration

Variables are "declared" using the var, let or const keyword:

var x;
let foo;
const bar;

let and const

Here, we say: "declare variable x and initialize it with the integer (number) 5".

let foo; // declare variable `foo`
let foo = 6; // declare and assign a variable at the same time

You can also assign a value to an existing variable:

foo = 4; // change variable `foo`

Types

All variables have a type. In our example above, the variable x is a number. JavaScript supports the following types:

  • String, e.g. "HackYourFuture"

  • Number, e.g. 5

  • Float, e.g. 10.6

  • Boolean, e.g. true or false

  • Array*, e.g. [1, 2, 3] or ['what', 'is', 'your', 'name']

  • Object, e.g. {name: 'John', age: 24}, or the special object null

  • Function, e.g. function () { return 4; }

In addition, a variable may be undefined. This is also a special type.

To get the type of a variable, use the following code:

let x = 5;
let typeOfX = typeof x; // -> 'number'

Note that I've put an asterisk behind 'array'. That is because in JavaScript, array is a special kind of object:

let arr = [1, 2, 3];
let typeOfArr = typeof arr; // -> 'object'

However, in our communication, we will call these variables arrays.

null and undefined

The values null and undefined are very similar in JavaScript, but they behave a bit differently. The difference is that null always has type "object", and undefined always has type "undefined".

Whenever you declare a variable, but you don't set a value, the variable will become undefined. JavaScript will never make a variable null unless you explicitly program it - it represents the intentional absence of any object value.

let x;
console.log(typeof x); // -> 'undefined'

typeof

You can use typeof to get the type of a certain variable as you have seen in the above section 'Variable types'. As you can see in the following examples it returns the type of data that you have stored in your variable.

String

In JavaScript you can store a series of characters inside a variable, you then call this a string. You can store all sorts of characters (text/numbers, spaces or phrases) in strings. By using the '' you define that something is a string. You can also use "" to create a string. Both are fine as long as you are consistent (just make a choice on which one you prefer and stick to it).

let foo = "42";
typeof foo; //-> 'string'

String indexes and string properties

The index of a string always starts at 0. Strings also have properties, for example .length you can use this to find the length of a string.

So for example:

let baz = "Hello World";
baz[0]; //-> "H"
baz.length; //-> 11

String methods

More about string methods.

Number

All numbers in JavaScript are considered numbers with or without decimal

let foo = 42;
typeof foo; //-> 'number'

let bar = 3.3333;
typeof bar; //-> 'number'

Array

Variables that are arrays contain a list of things, instead of just one thing. What's inside the array, we typically call "elements". So, the array [1, 2, 3] has three elements. The array [] has no elements and is therefore empty. The number of elements in an array is called its "length".

When you want to access an element inside an array, you use an "index". This is the number that you put between brackets ([]).

Given the following code:

var arr = ["john", "jane", "jack"];
console.log(arr[0]);

The number 0 is the "index of the first element of array arr". Conversely, the element "at index 0 in array arr is 'john'".

Instead of a number, you can also use a variable to access elements in an array, as long as this variable is a number:

let arr = ["john", "jane", "jack"];
let a = 1;
console.log(arr[a]); // -> jane

If the index you use is not an integer (a whole number), or if it's less than 0 or if it's greater than or equal to the array's length, you will get back undefined.

More about arrays

Comparison operators

Note the two different uses of the equals sign: A single equals sign (=) is used to assign a value to a variable. A triple equals sign (===) is used to compare two values (see Equality Operators).

Equality operators

  • Equality ==

  • Inequality !=

  • Identity / strict equality ===

  • Non-identity / strict inequality !==

How does this work in practice?

1 == 1; // -> true
7 == "7"; // -> true
1 != 2; // -> true
5 === 5; // -> true
9 === "9"; // -> false
3 !== 3; // -> false
3 !== "3"; // -> true

why does 7 == '7' returns true and 9 === '9' returns false?

Relational operators

  • Greater than operator >

  • Greater than or equal operator >=

  • Less than operator <

  • Less than or equal operator <=

4 > 3; // -> true
3 >= 3; // -> true
13 < 12; // -> false
3 <= 4; // -> true

More about comparison operators

Arithmetic operators

  • Addition +

  • Subtraction -

  • Multiplication *

  • Division /

  • Remainder (sometimes called modulo) %. This returns the remainder left over after you've shared the left number out into a number of integer portions equal to the right number.

8 + 9; // -> 17, adds two numbers together.
20 - 12; // -> 8, subtracts the right number from the left.
3 * 4; // -> 12, multiplies two numbers together.
10 / 5; // -> 2, divides the left number by the right.
8 % 3; /// -> 2, as three goes into 8 twice, leaving 2 left over.

More about Arithmetic_Operators

Last updated