Beginner JavaScript

The Basics

Types

7 different types in JS:

• String
• Number
• Boolean
• Null
• Undefined
• Symbol
• Object

Strings

Can use ‘single quotes’, “double quotes”, or backticks

Single & double quotes are interchangeable - mostly used when we need to escape out apostrophes

To do multi-line strings - will need to add back slashes or line breaks - or use back ticks, and can do multiple lines without extra syntax

Back ticks also let you do some nice concatenation with separate strings and variables (interpolation) - Hello my name is ${name}, nice to meet you

Numbers

can subtract, multiply, and divide with numbers or strings - but addition is only possible for numbers.

If you’re getting weird issues with numbers not coming out right, check and make sure you’re not mixing numbers and strings!

Modulo! % - Returns remainder of a division operation

Be careful when adding floats (decimal numbers) - can be inaccurate and give weird results. JS only really works with integers, so it’s best to work with whole numbers when you can (or be sure to round or truncate if needing decimals).

Power - **

Objects

Everything in JS is an object - used for collections of things

Symbol

Way to do unique properties

Null and Undefined

Both express “nothingness”

undefined - properties that don’t exist, or variables set up without a value - trying to access something that isn’t there. a variable that hasn’t had a value set to it yet

null - a value that is directly set to nothing/null. something that is explicitly set to mean nothing

Booleans and Equality

True/false values - often used as flags

= - assigns something, like a value to a variable == - checks equality between two values, checks value but not type === - checks equality between two values, exact comparison of value and type

Functions

Functions are groupings of statements that are related to each other - can often take arguments or parameters, and sometimes return something to you.

Functions are defined (when you create & define what it does) and called (when you actually run it).

function calculateBill() {
  console.log("Running Calculate Bill!!");
  const total = 100 * 1.13;
  return total;
}

If you pass the function name into console w/o the (), can see the function description - might be handy! Easiest to see in Chrome/Edge

To actually call the function, you use parenthesis

calculateBill();

Variables defined inside a function are only available in the function - can’t access them outside the function unless you return the value and store it in a new variable!

Once a function is done running, any variables declared inside are garbage collected, and cleaned out. So if you want that value stored somewhere, you need to save it somewhere outside of the function.

Parameters and Arguments

Params - we use these in our function declarations like placeholders for the data we want to use inside the function.

Arguments - the actual value we use in our function, the real data the function will use.

Can pass values into function as direct values, variable names, or expressions - all a function cares about is that it gets a value, doesn’t really care how you pass it the value.

Can also set default values for params, so if you call the function without the argument it has a fallback value.

function yell(name = "Silly Goose") {
  console.log(`HEY ${name.toUpperCase()}`);
}

yell();

Functions only fallback to the default if it’s undefined - so if you want to pass some arguments but use default for some, pass it undefined where you want the default

function calculateBill(billAmount, taxRate = 0.13, tipRate = 0.15) {
  console.log("Running Calculate Bill!!");
  const total = billAmount + billAmount * taxRate + billAmount * tipRate;
  return total;
}

const myBill = calculateBill(100, undefined, 0.2);

Different ways to declare functions

// first way, we've seen before
function doctorize(firstName) {
  return `Dr. ${firstName}`;
}

// function w/o a name is an anonymous function
function (firstName) {
  return `Dr. ${firstName}`;
}

// function expression
const doctorize = function(firstName) {
  return `Dr. ${firstName}`;
}

// arrow functions

// explicit return - having keyword typed
// implicit return - returns w/o needing return keyword

// when there's only one parameter, you won't need () around parameters
const inchToCM = inches => inches * 2.54;

// example with multiple parameters
const add = (a, b = 3) => a + b;

// arrow => returning an object
// something like this is typically easier to read as a more standard function, but just to show an example
const makeABaby = (first, last) => ({ name: `${first} ${last}`, age: 0 });

// IIFE - immediately invoked function expression
// putting a function in () and then calling right away will immediately call the function & run it
(function() {
  console.log('Running anon function')
  return 'You are cool';
})();

// Methods
// function that lives in an object
const linda = {
  name: 'LindaKat',
  // standard method
  sayHi: function() {
    console.log('Hey Linda');
  },
  // shorthand method
  yellHi() {
    console.log('HEY LINDA')
  },
  // arrow method
  whisperHi: () => {
    console.log('hi linda')
  }
}

// callback functions
// happens when something is done
const button = document.querySelector('.clickMe');

// can create function outside and pass it
function handleClick() {
  console.log('Great clicking');
}
button.addEventListener('click', handleClick);

// or can pass anon function
button.addEventListener('click', function() {console.log('Nice job')})

// timer callback
setTimeout(() => console.log('Done!'), 1000);

Debugging Tools

Console methods

.log is the most common - writes something to the console .info - similar to log, but adds a little i icon to side, provides information .error - colors text so it has a small x icon and red highlighted text, chrome provides stack trace .warn - similar to error but uses ! icon and yellow highlighted text, chrome provides stack trace .table - formats data into table .count - can count every time something runs, can pass variables .group - will group multiple logs together, end with .groupEnd and pass same string as initial .group call; .groupCollapsed starts the groups collapsed

Call stack and stack trace

Gives information on what is causing the error and where it originated. When it says anonymous at the end, often means it’s because it was called from the console. Will list the function call, the file it was in, and what line it was on. First item occurred most recently, then goes backwards.

Inspecting Elements

Can access elements from the console by highlighting them in elements tab, then going to console and typing $0. The 0 means last element clicked, so will update. Can then increase number to get second last element, and so on.

$ & $$ - shorthand selector for document.querySelector and document.querySelectorAll directly in the console.

Breakpoints

Can put debugger; in your code, and if the console is open in your browser, will pause all JS from running. Sets a breakpoint, and loads into source in console.

Network Requests

Shows everything loaded when the page loads; can see timing, headers, etc.

Break on Attribute

In console, can right click on element and select break on and attribute modifications - will start debugger where affected JS was called. Can also go into sources tab and pick a break point on event listener or xhr/fetch.

The Tricky Bits

Scope

‘Where are my variables available to me?’ Scope answers this!

Global Scope

Variables declared in the base of the file are available anywhere in your code.

Var and named functions are attached to the global window object in the browser. Const and let are NOT.

Function Scope

Variables declared inside a function are only available inside said function, unless we return it.

If variables aren’t found in the function, JS will go up a level higher and search there, and continue until it can’t go higher. So global variables can be used inside functions.

Can scope functions inside functions as well - inner function will only be available to it’s parent.

Block Scope

{} create blocks. Anything created inside them won’t be available outside the block. Will often see this as loops (if, for, etc).

This particularly applies to const and let variables, as they are specifically block scoped. Var is actually function scoped, so does not obey the block scope rule and can be accessed outside of the block.

Scope Lookup

JS is a lexically / statically scoped language. This means variable/scope lookup happens where the function is defined, not where it’s run.

// globally defined dog version
const dog = "Snickers";

function logDog() {
  // since this is defined here without a dog variable, it will look up to the global scope, and log Snickers.
  console.log(dog);
}

function go() {
  // function scoped dog version
  const dog = "Sunny";
  // here's where we actually call the logDog function - but it won't look at the dog variable here!
  logDog();
}

go();

Try not to create global variables - often leads to confusion or weirdness, can accidentally cause issues. When working with modules, becomes very difficult to do unless you create one specifically on the window object.

Hoisting

Accessing functions and variables before they’ve been created. This is possible because of how JS works! It takes all declarations of functions and variables and puts them at the top of the file, so technically you can call them before they’ve actually been declared.

One use case for this: Can arrange your files to have calls first, showing what the file does; then declarations after, showing how the file does it. Not super common, but it is possible.

For variables, it will hoist the variable declaration, but not the value! So you can’t log the variable before a value is added. But you can declare the variable early, then add a value later on.

Closures

The ability to access a parent level scope from a child scope, even after the parent has been terminated.

function createGreeting(greeting = "") {
  // say we have a variable here, in our parent scope
  const myGreet = greeting.toUpperCase();
  // then we're returning this inner function, which uses the variable from it's parent scope
  return function (name) {
    return `${myGreet} ${name}`;
  };
}

// we could then assign this function to a few different variables with different arguments passed to it. It will run the whole function, which should clear up all the variables once it's done.
const sayHello = createGreeting("hello");
const sayHey = createGreeting("hey");
// but we can then use the new variables, and still access that variables inside the function. It's called a closure because even though the function run is closed, we can still access the variables inside.
console.log(sayHello("wes"));
console.log(sayHey("wes"));

It’s a little bit weird wording, but basically it’s a way JS allows us to save & use variables from outer scopes, if function calls are nested inside each other. So the scope is preserved for when we need it.

Can also be used to create “private variables” - so can keep multiple, updating instances of a similar variable.

function createGame(gameName) {
  let score = 0;
  return function win() {
    score++;
    return `Your ${gameName} score is ${score}`;
  };
}

// because of closure, when we run these functions it will keep a separate, updated score for each one. Since we stored two instances of our createGame function, each one counts as it's own version, and will stay updated.
const hockeyGame = createGame("Hockey");
const soccerGame = createGame("Soccer");

The DOM

Document Object Model - processes HTMl so we can interact with it using JS

We have window, which tells us properties about the entire browser window, including the search bar and tabs and such. And we also have the document, which is just concerned with the actual browser page (so not tabs or search etc). There’s also a navigator object, which has info about the device you’re on (like geolocation, webcam, audio, battery, etc).

Selecting Elements

Two main ways to select items - querySelector and querySelectorAll - one gets the first item, one gets all items matching the provided tag. Most often, you’ll see them on document, but can also use them on a specific variable as well, to search inside that variable.

Element Properties and Methods

Can see all the properties of an element using console.dir, if needed.

textContent and innerText are very similar - content is newer, and gets all elements including script and style, where inner only shows the human readable elements for that tag and won’t show hidden items.

innerHTML and outerHTML - inner will return all the HTML inside your provided tag, where outer will also include the selected tag.

insertAdjacentText (also element & HTML) - takes position and element/text provided and adds to the indicated position. Positions beforebegin and afterend will go outside the target element; afterbegin and beforeend will go inside the target element.

const pizzaList = document.querySelector(".pizza");
pizzaList.insertAdjacentText("beforeend", "🍕");

Working with Classes

className will give the name of any classes attached to element - however, often you can use classList instead and get a few methods as well.

const pic = document.querySelector("img");

// add will add a class to the list
pic.classList.add("open");
// remove takes a class off the list
pic.classList.remove("cool");
// toggle will add or remove the class, depending on if it's already in the list or not
pic.classList.toggle("change");
// contains returns a true/false value to check if the name is in the list
pic.classList.contains("round");

Data Attributes

Can make custom attributes using the data- tag! Better way to add your own attributes, should you need them.

To access those attributes, call .dataset - will return an object with whatever data properties you’ve created.

const custom = document.querySelector(".custom");
// if you want the specific property you made, use dot notation
custom.addEventListener("click", () => {
  alert(`Welcome ${custom.dataset.name}!`);
});

Creating HTML

Standard way - document.createElement('tag');

Can then add attributes or classes to item - it’s a real item stored in memory.

To then add your new element to the DOM, use .appendChild() - will add it to the end of whichever element you add it to.

When you modify the DOM, it causes a reflow, so will actively repaint the DOM for each call. So often best to use as rarely as possible - so add multiple items to each other first, then to the DOM once (or as few times as needed).

Can also use insertAdjacentElement to attach to the DOM - works like the text version we used, but attaches to elements.

When making multiple items, can also clone nodes - const item = prevItem.cloneNode()

If you pass true, it will go “deep” and add in any children already set up as well (so for making a list, can clone a previous li item, passing true will also clone the text).

HTML from Strings

If you’ve got a long list of items to add, you can use strings with valid HTML to add everything directly.

const item = document.querySelector(".item");

item.innerHTML = `
<div>
  <h1>Hey How are ya?</h1>
</div>
`;

If using backticks, will work basically like templating in any other language! So can add variables and such into the strings.

Another way is to turn our HTML string into a fragment (will turn the string into DOM elements before we add them to the page), using a range (a collection of HTML elements). Helpful if you’ll need to modify or add things to your string created elements.

const myHTML = `
  <div class="wrapper">
    <h2>Cute ${desc}</h2>
    <img src="${src}" alt="${desc}"/>
  </div>
`;

const myFragment = document.createRange().createContextualFragment(myHTML);

Can then use append to add it to the DOM.

IMPORTANT NOTE: XSS (cross site scripting) is a thing to consider with this - make sure you sanitize your text inputs, so folks can’t put HTML into your page!

Traversing and Removing Nodes

Difference between node and element - if you select .children from an item, you’ll get any tags that are listed inside it - these are elements. Everything counts as a node, however, so if you get .childNodes from an item, you’ll get tags and any text inside.

Other ways to grab elements (these are chainable, if needed):

• firstElementChild
• lastElementChild
• previousElementSibling (if you have multiple items with the same tag or class, will grab the previous sibling if available)
• nextElementSibling
• parentElement

Other ways to grab nodes (also chainable):

• firstChild
• lastChild
• previousSibling
• nextSibling
• parentNode

Nodes will grab text items as well!

If you need to remove something, fairly easy - .remove()

Will still have access to item if created in JS as it stays in memory - will be removed from the page, but can still access it programmatically.

Events

Event Listener

Go get something, listen for something, do something - essentially how an event listener works ;)

button.addEventListener("click", function () {
  console.log("Callback!");
});

Can pass a named function for the callback as well - does not need the () at the end, since you’re not actively calling it when describing it.

Can also use .removeEventListener! Pass in event you want to stop listening for and function to stop running. Will work best if you’re passing in a named function, since remove needs to know what function it’s removing.

To listen on multiple items:

const buyButtons = document.querySelectorAll("button.buy");

function buyItem() {
  console.log("Buying item");
}

buyButtons.forEach(function (buyButton) {
  buyButton.addEventListener("click", buyItem);
});

Targets, Bubbling, Propagation, Capture

In our callbacks, we get access to one parameter - the event that occurred. This gives us tons of information we can use in the callback.

A common one is event.target - the specific item the event happened on. Can then access other dataset info or other specific items for that target.

event.currentTarget is very similar, but gives the inner element that fired the event - so if you had a strong tag inside your button, target would be the button itself, while currentTarget would be the strong tag (if that’s what you clicked to fire the event).

Propagation - events will bubble up, from the item triggered all the way up each item above it to the window, browser, even OS. Sometimes this can be helpful (if your trigger is on a button but you clicked an inner item, for instance), but sometimes you don’t want it to bubble all the way up to the window. Can use .stopPropagation() to prevent further bubbling.

Can also trigger event listeners to work going down first, instead of up. This chart shows an example of the directions:

So we can have a listener on the window, and pass in capture to the listener to have it trigger before our button triggers, and can even use .stopPropagation() to stop the button trigger from even happening.

window.addEventListener(
  "click",
  function (event) {
    console.log("Window click detected");
    // can add the below line to prevent further events from firing
    // event.stopPropagation();
  },
  { capture: true },
);

Prevent Default and Form Events

event.preventDefault() will stop items that have default actions from performing their default actions.

const link = document.querySelector(".link");

link.addEventListener("click", function (e) {
  // Bonus! confirm gives a popup with a ok & cancel button
  const shouldChangePage = confirm(
    "Do you wish to navigate away from this page?",
  );
  if (!shouldChangePage) {
    e.preventDefault();
  }
});

Another common default happens on forms - submit.

Can grab the form by the name attribute - anytime we want to find an item by it’s name in our HTML, can do that like this:

const signupForm = document.querySelector('[name="signup"]');

Inside our callback handler, can access form values either directly from currentTarget or like above w/ a query selector.

Other events you might see in forms:

• keyup - after a key is pressed, when it’s released
• keydown - when a key is pressed down
• focus - when an input item is highlighted, focused on
• blur - when an input loses focus

Accessibility Gotchas and Keyboard Codes

Common concerns with accessibility:

Buttons are used to perform actions when clicked. Links are used to change the page.

Watch your event listeners! If you’re going to do an event on a mouse item, make sure that can also be handled without a mouse.

Example: say we have a photo that we want to enlarge when someone clicks on it. The best option would be to make a button and put the image inside it. But if we didn’t do that, we should give our image a tabindex of 0, so it will show up in the tab flow. And also we should make a second event listener for keyup (will want to check event.key for the enter key) so that it triggers the same event as the click when we interact with it.

Serious Practice Exercises

Etch a Sketch

Building an Etch-a-Sketch in the browser! A few random notes:

• This project uses the canvas tag in HTML, to allow us to draw. The tag itself has a set width and height in the code, and then in the CSS for the page we set the width and height to half that size. This is so, on higher resolution screens, things should come out nice and crisp looking.
• canvas will have a context setting, which is what we’ll need to grab to actually draw on the canvas. Canvas is the element - we draw on the context.
• Default action for arrow keys is to move the page.
• hsl has a hue value that’s between 0 and 359. Browsers will automatically handle the re-setting of the hue value if it goes over 359, and wrap back around for us!
• In the third part of an event listener call, we can pass once: true to unbind the event listener after it’s done, so it won’t keep adding the same listener multiple times.

Click Outside Modal

• One way to hide a modal window before you need it: set opacity to 0 and set pointer-events to none. Will still be on the screen (just not visibly since no opacity), but will not capture any pointer events, so can click things that might be under it. Then, when you want it to be visible, change the opacity and set pointer-events to all.
• If you’ve got an individual piece of a larger group, and want to grab that specific group it’s in, can use .closest. Similar to query selector, but goes up instead of down.

const button = event.currentTarget;
const card = button.closest(".card");

Scroll Events and Intersection Observer

Can use scroll event to track how far from the top and the height of the item that’s scrolling, but will likely be easier to use intersection observer.

Will make a new instance, which takes a callback and set of options if needed. Then you tell that instance to observe the element you want to watch.

function obCallback(payload) {
  if (payload[0].intersectionRatio === 1) {
    // actions here
    ...
    ob.unobserve(terms.lastElementChild);
  }
}

const ob = new IntersectionObserver(obCallback, {
  root: terms,
  threshold: 1
});

ob.observe(terms.lastElementChild);

Tabs

• In most cases, if a property is listed with a - in HTML, you can use it in JS with camelCase. However, for aria and custom properties, you’ll want to use setAttribute to have the property update.

tab.setAttribute("aria-selected", false);

• When possible, you can style things by aria-labels and properties - so instead of having to keep track of classes and labels, you can simply have the accessible labels/properties. Less to update or code!

Logic and Flow Control

BEDMAS

Order of operations!

• Brackets (also Parenthesis)
• Exponents
• Division
• Multiplication
• Addition
• Subtraction

Flow Control with If Statements, Function Returns, Truthy, Falsy

If Statements - will evaluate a condition to see if it’s true or false; if true, will run the code in the provided block. Important to note that it runs top down, so the first if condition that evaluates to true ends the chain (so any other else if blocks won’t be seen).

Return - if you return inside a function, it will stop the rest of the function from running (will often see it instead of an else call inside a function).

function slugify(sentence, lowercase) {
  let slug = sentence.replace(/\s/g, "-");
  if (lowercase) {
    return slug.toLowerCase();
  }
  // will only be reachable if the if statement is false
  return slug;
}

Can use methods or functions inside if statements if they return a boolean.

Truthy & falsy - in if statements, JS will try to coerce an expression into a boolean. However, some values are not actually true or false, but will evaluate that way in expressions. Often used to check if something exists.

Truthy Values:

• Any number (positive or negative)
• Any string with a value (even an empty space ’ ‘)
• Empty array
• Empty object

Falsy Values:

• 0
• undefined
• null
• NaN
• empty string ”

Coercion, Ternaries and Conditional Abuse

Coercion - Force something of a different type to be a real boolean - often with !. Will be able to check the truthy/falsy-ness of a value and if it exists or not. A single bang (!) is the opposite of the truthy/falsy-ness of a variable.

const name = "wes";
// !name = false
// !!name = true

Ternary - Shorthand if statement, needs 3 things: a condition, if true, & if false

const count = 2;
const word = count === 1 ? "item" : "items";

function showAdminBar() {
  const isAdmin = true;
  // if you want to do nothing, can use null
  isAdmin ? showAdminBar() : null;
  // && trick - since JS will short circuit when it reaches false conditions, can use this to avoid using the null setting
  isAdmin && showAdminBar();
}

Case Switch and Animating a Turtle with CSS Variables

Switch statement - Block with a number of cases where the values are specific - can’t do > 20 or something similar. Will then react on whichever case it matches.

switch (event.key) {
  case "ArrowUp":
    y = y - 1;
    break;
  case "ArrowDown":
    y = y + 1;
    break;
  default:
    console.log("Not a valid move");
    break;
}

Also - if you need to set a CSS variable in your JS, can use setAttribute to access it.

const turtle = document.querySelector(".");
turtle.setAttribute("style", `--x: ${x * speed}px;`);

Intervals and Timers

To run code once after a certain set of time, you’ll use a timer - to run it multiple times after a certain set of time, you’ll want an interval.

setTimeout(function () {
  // do some code here - this is your callback function, then you'll pass the time to run it after
}, 500);

// can also pass in defined functions
// does not run right away - the first run will start after the first timer amount
setInterval(buzzer, 100);

// You can pass functions as parameters too! So if you wanted something to run immediately, and then at intervals, can make your own function like this:
function setImmediateInterval(funcToRun, ms) {
  // by calling the function parameter here, it will call the function you pass in
  funcToRun();
  //
  return setInterval(funcToRun, ms);
}

setImmediateInterval(buzzer, 2000);

// If we save the reference to the timer, we can then clear it to stop it from running - works with timers and intervals
const bombTimer = setTimeout(destroy, 5000);

window.addEventListener("click", () => {
  console.log("You saved the world");
  clearTimeout(bombTimer); // for intervals - clearInterval(IntToClear);
});

Data Types

Objects in Detail

Groups of properties/keys and values. Most used where the order of the properties doesn’t matter. Values can be any type.

const age = 100;
const person = {
  name: "wes",
  // if you have a variable and key with the same name, can just pass the name
  age,
  // can use dashes or spaces if needed, wrap in quotes
  "really-cool": true,
  // nested properties
  clothing: {
    shirts: 10,
    pants: 2,
  },
  // if you have a function in an object, it's called a method - the this keyword will be bound to the object
  // can also use shorthand of sayHello(greeting = 'Hey') {}
  sayHello: function (greeting = "Hey") {
    return `${greeting} ${this.name}`;
  },
};
// can also add properties after creation
person.job = "web developer";
// and can update properties
person.age = 50;
// another way to access properties - can use strings stored in variables, or for property names with dashes or spaces
person["really-cool"];
// to remove a property
delete person.job;
// to clear a variable, can set to undefined or null

Even though our object is declared with a const, you can update the properties - properties can change, but the actual named object can’t be overwritten completely. If you need to freeze the values of an object, call Object.freeze(person) - won’t affect the initial object, but will create a version that is frozen.

Object References vs Values

With variables, if you set one value equal to another, it will copy that value into the new variable. If you update the original value, the copy will not update.

let name1 = "wes";
let name2 = "scott";

// if we set name1 to be equal to what's in name2
name1 = name2;
// the value in name1 is now the string 'scott' - it copies the value stored in name2 and sets it to be set in name1
// if we then change the value in name2
name2 = "westopher";
// name1 still equals 'scott', while name2 is now 'westopher'

However, if we’re comparing objects, they’re checked by reference - so if you have two objects that have the same contents but different variable names, they won’t be considered equal - because they’re pointing to different objects.

// so if we make an object
const person1 = {
  first: "wes",
  last: "bos",
};
// then set a new variable to be pointing to person1 - it will be a reference; it won't copy the values into the new variable, it points to the original
const person2 = person1;
// however now, if we update a value in person2 - it will ALSO update the value in person1, since they're both pointing to the same object
person2.first = "Larry";
// now both person2.first and person1.first are both set to 'Larry'

If we want to make a copy of an object (a new version, not a reference to the original), we can use the spread operator. It will take an object and spread the values into a new object.

const person3 = { ...person1 };

A slightly older/original way to do this is:

const person3 = Object.assign({}, person1);

Still works well, just not quite as popular anymore since spread.

Spread is only one level deep (a shallow copy) - so if we have nested values, updating them in our person3 object will ALSO update the person1 object.

If you need a deep copy (all the values copied over), you’ll likely need a library that provides a function to do that - will need to recursively go through the object to copy everything over.

With spread, order matters - if you have properties in multiple objects that use the same name, the last one you spread in will win.

With strings and single values, if you pass them into a function, the original value is not changed - it passes the value into the function, so only the value inside the function is updated. However, if you pass an object into a function, it WILL update the original object as well

Maps

Maps are similar to objects, but will have a few differences.

const person1 = {
  name: "wes",
  age: 200,
};

const myMap = new Map();
// Map has a few nice syntax things
// to add entires to our map, use .set()
myMap.set("name", "wes");
// one nice thing is we can use any value for our keys, like numbers or objects
myMap.set(100, "this is a number");
myMap.set(person1, "Cool person");
// we can use .get() to grab the value stored in our entries
myMap.get(person1); // will return the value 'cool person'
// to delete an entry, use .delete()
myMap.delete("name");
// if you need to know if a key exists in a map, use .has()
myMap.has(100); // will return a boolean

You can use dot notation to add a property, but it will be a property on the map, not an entry.

In maps, order is guaranteed - the order we put them in will be the order they stay in. Can also use myMap.size similar to length, if we need to know how many entries there are.

Use a map if order is important. However there is no literal - we always need to use the new keyword to make a map. If you know what data to pass, you can pass in arrays to set the values.

new Map(["name", "wes"], ["age", 49]);

Cannot put functions/methods in maps. Maps also don’t currently handle JSON, so can’t convert your maps with json.stringify - will need to convert it to an object first.

Arrays

Holds a list of items where the position matters. Arrays have no keys - they use indexes instead. It has the typeof object.

const names = ["wes", "kait", "snickers"];

// we use the index of an item (0 based) in square brackets to access it
console.log(names[0]);

// add items to END of the array
names.push("lux");

// add to FRONT of the array
names.unshift("poppy");

// can use spread method if you want to add in the middle
// if you want to go to the end, can simply only provide a starting index to slice
const bikes = ["bianchi", "miele", "panasonic", "miyata"];
const newBikes = [...bikes.slice(0, 2), "benotto", ...bikes.slice(2)];

Mutable methods perform mutations - they change the original version. Immutable return a new version that’s changed, leaving the original as is.

// if you need to use a mutable method but DON'T want to change the original, can make a copy of the array to work on
const numbers = [1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6];
const numbersReversed = [...numbers].reverse();

// Two common ones - slice (immutable) and splice (mutable)
// using slice will leave the original array as is - will grab from the start index up to (but not including) the end index
const slice = numbers.slice(2, 5); // will return 3, 4, 5

// using splice will change the original array - provide the index to start at and number of items to remove (optional items to add in as well)
const splice = numbers.splice(1, 2); // will remove 3, 4 from original array

// find and delete example
const comments = [
  { text: "Cool Beans", id: 123 },
  { text: "Love this", id: 133 },
  { text: "Neato", id: 233 },
  { text: "Good bikes", id: 333 },
  { text: "So good", id: 433 },
];

function deleteComments(id, comments) {
  // find the index where our comment to remove is - since comment is an object, will use dot notation on the id field
  const commentIndex = comments.findIndex((comment) => comment.id === id);
  return [
    ...comments.slice(0, commentIndex),
    ...comments.slice(commentIndex + 1),
  ];
}

Static Methods

Static methods are sort of like utilities - they’re used with the keyword Array and are not specific to a created array.

// can use .of to create a new array from the values provided
// if an item has a length, can also spread it into an array
Array.of("wes", "kait");
// ['wes', 'kait']
Array.of(..."wes");
// ['w', 'e', 's']

// can use .for to make an array of a certain length, with a value passed in if desired
function createRange(start, end) {
  // will use anything that has a length to determine how many spaces to make
  const range = Array.from({ length: end - start }, function (item, index) {
    // this will then put this number into the indexed slot
    return index + start;
  });
  return range;
}

// use .isArray to see if it is an array
Array.isArray(myRange);

// A few object static methods that return arrays:
const meats = {
  beyond: 10,
  beef: 5,
  pork: 7,
};

// .entries makes each item it's own array and returns all values
Object.entries(meats);
// [['beyond', 10], ['beef', 5], ['pork', 7]]
// .keys makes an array of just the keys
Object.keys(meats);
// ['beyond', 'beef', 'pork']
// .values makes an array of just the values
Object.values(meats);
// [10, 5, 7]

// short destructuring example:
Object.entries(meats).forEach(([meat, qty]) => {
  // can destructure / "split up" the values either in the parameters, or inside the loop
  // if inside the loop, would pass entry in the parameters, then do:
  // const [meat, qty] = entry;
  console.log(meat, qty);
});

Instance Methods

Instance methods work directly on your specific array (also called prototype methods).

// make a string from your array with .join
const buns = ["egg", "wonder", "brioche"];
buns.join(" or "); // 'egg or wonder or brioche'

// string method, can turn a string into an array with .split
const foodString = "hot dogs, hamburgers, sausages, corn";
foodString.split(","); // ['hot dogs', 'hamburgers', 'sausages', 'corn']

// adding and removing items
const toppings = [
  "Mushrooms ",
  "Tomatoes",
  "Eggs",
  "Chili",
  "Lettuce",
  "Avocado",
  "Chiles",
  "Bacon",
  "Pickles",
  "Onions",
  "Cheese",
];

// .pop and .shift will return the item you removed
// .push and .unshift will return the new length of the array

// take last item off array
const lastItem = toppings.pop();
// add it back to end
toppings.push(lastItem);
// take first item off
const firstItem = toppings.shift();
// add it back to beginning
toppings.unshift(firstItem);

// can also do these in an immutable way
let newToppings = toppings.slice(0, toppings.length - 1);
newToppings = [...newToppings, toppings[toppings.length - 1]];

// making copies with slice and spread
const toppingsCopy = toppings.slice(0);
const toppingsCopy2 = [...toppings];

// remove items with .splice
toppingsCopy.splice(3, 5);

// find index of Avocado with .indexOf / .lastIndexOf
// indexOf will find the FIRST instance; lastIndexOf will find the LAST instance
const avoIndex = toppings.indexOf("Avocado");

// check if item exists in array with .includes
const isInToppings = toppings.includes("Hot Sauce");

// reverse the list
const toppingsReversed = [...toppings].reverse();

Callback Methods and Function Generation

// Can pass callback functions directly, or store in a variable and pass the variable
const findBurgRating = (singleFeedback) =>
  singleFeedback.comment.includes("burg");

const burgRating = feedback.find(findBurgRating);

// A nice tip - if you have a bunch of helper functions like this, can store them in an object, to keep things organized
const util = {
  findBurgRating: function (singleFeedback) {
    return singleFeedback.comment.includes("burg");
  },
};

// High order functions - functions that return other functions
// This way, if we want to be able to search for multiple terms, we don't need a function for each word - just the one that will work for all of them
function findByWord(word) {
  return function (singleFeedback) {
    return singleFeedback.comment.includes(word);
  };
}

// If working with an object, remember we can use Object.entries/values/keys to turn it into an array
const meats = {
  beyond: 10,
  beef: 5,
  pork: 7,
};
// .some will see if at least one of the values meets our criteria
const isThereEnoughMeat = Object.values(meats).some(
  (meatValue) => meatValue >= 5,
);

// .every will make sure all of them meet our criteria
const isEnoughOfEveryMeat = Object.values(meats).every(
  (meatValue) => meatValue >= 3,
);

// Sort orders by turning args into strings, then sorts alphabetically
// But can be given a compareFunction, so you can control how it sorts
// The function access first value and second value
// Returning -1 puts first value first (f < s)
// Returning 0 keeps things in the order they're in
// Returning 1 puts second value first (s < f)
const numbers = [1, 2, 100, 3, 200, 400, 155];
const numbersSorted = numbers.sort(function (firstItem, secondItem) {
  // typically would look like this:
  // if (firstItem > secondItem) {
  //   return 1;
  // } else if (secondItem > firstItem) {
  //   return -1;
  // } else {
  //   return 0;
  // }

  // however since we're sorting numbers, can just directly use the numbers (as long as you're returning a 0, positive num, or negative num, it will work)
  return firstItem - secondItem;
});

// Can work with objects too!
const prices = {
  hotDog: 453,
  corn: 234,
  sausage: 634,
  burger: 765,
};

const sortedByPrice = Object.entries(prices).sort(function (a, b) {
  // .entries gives us an array of nested arrays, where each line is [key, value]
  const aPrice = a[1];
  const bPrice = b[1];
  return aPrice - bPrice;
});
// Then if we wanted that back as an object, can do that
console.table(Object.fromEntries(sortedByPrice));

Gettin’ Loopy

forEach

.forEach will run once for each item in the Array. Does NOT actually return anything - just does whatever work you pass i

// .forEach gives us access to the item, it's index, and the full array in our callback
function logTopping(topping, index, origArray) {
  console.log(topping);
  // next topping
  const nextTopping = origArray[index + 1];
  nextTopping ? console.log(nextTopping) : null;
  // prev topping
  const prevTopping = origArray[index - 1];
  prevTopping ? console.log(prevTopping) : null;
  // if last item, say goodbye
  index === origArray.length - 1
    ? console.log("goodbye")
    : console.log("getting next topping");
}

toppings.forEach(logTopping);

Mapping

Side effects happen when you’re reaching something outside of your function and modifying it (like adding an event listener or putting something on the page). Sometimes, though, you want to simply access your data, modify it, and return that changed data - not reaching outside the function. JS has a few functions that handle this use case.

.map works sort of like a machine - it takes data in, does something to it, and returns it. It will always return the same number of values that it takes in - there’s no way to return less items. Can chain multiple maps together, since it will always return an array.

const fullNames = ["wes", "kait", "poppy"].map((name) => `${name} bos`);
// can also do multiple things in a chain
function bosify(name) {
  return `${name} Bos`;
}

function capitalize(word) {
  return `${word[0].toUpperCase()}${word.slice(1)}`;
}

const fullNames = ["wes", "kait", "poppy"].map(capitalize).map(bosify);

// A few fun bonus things - .repeat & .fill
// using .repeat will add a repeat of whatever it's attached to, x number of times
"x".repeat(3); // returns 'xxx'
Array(3).fill("x"); // returns ['x', 'x', 'x']

// Most often, you'll likely need .map when working with objects, to get data into the format you want it
const people = [
  {
    birthday: "April 22, 1993",
    names: {
      first: "Keith",
      last: "Buckley",
    },
  },
  {
    birthday: "January 3, 1975",
    names: {
      first: "Larry",
      last: "Heep",
    },
  },
  {
    birthday: "February 12, 1944",
    names: {
      first: "Linda",
      last: "Bermeer",
    },
  },
];

const cleanPeople = people.map(function (person) {
  // passing a string of a date into new Date turns it into a date
  const birthday = new Date(person.birthday).getTime();
  const now = Date.now();
  // we now have birthday and current time in milliseconds - to figure out age, can subtract those two numbers.
  // Then we'll convert those milliseconds into years (rough guess)
  // 1000 ms in s *60 s in m* 60 m in h *24 h in d* 365 d in y
  const age = Math.floor((now - birthday) / 31536000000);
  return {
    age,
    name: `${person.names.first} ${person.names.last}`,
  };
});

Filter, Find, and Higher Order Functions

// using the cleanPeople object from last section
// filter will find every item in the array that matches our condition
const over40 = cleanPeople.filter((person) => person.age > 40);
// .filter returns an array, so if we wanted to do a check on this we use length - it will be an empty array if there's no data
if (over40.length) {
  console.log("Yep, some older folks");
}

// find only finds one item in an array - returns a single item
const student = students.find((student) => student.id === "565a");

// using higher order functions, we can make this really flexible - can pass in both the property we want, as well as the value
function findByProp(prop, propWeAreLookingFor) {
  return function isStudent(student) {
    return student[prop] === propWeAreLookingFor;
  };
}
const student2 = students.find(findByProp("first_name", "Micki"));

Reduce

Reduce executes a function on each element in an array, and gives you back a single output - could be a number, an object, etc depending on what the function you pass does.

const orderTotals = [342, 1002, 523, 34, 634, 854, 1644, 2222];
// .reduce takes up to 4 params in it's callback - accumulator, current value, current index, and the source array
// can also take an initial value, so you can start from a certain point (otherwise, accumulator is the first array value on start)
// whatever you return from the function is what the accumulator is set to on the next pass through
function tallyNumbers(tally, currentTotal) {
  return tally + currentTotal;
}
// this will start from 0, and add up each value in our array to get a total sum
const allOrders = orderTotals.reduce(tallyNumbers, 0);

// another example
const inventory = [
  { type: "shirt", price: 4000 },
  { type: "pants", price: 4532 },
  { type: "socks", price: 234 },
  { type: "shirt", price: 2343 },
  { type: "pants", price: 2343 },
  { type: "socks", price: 542 },
  { type: "pants", price: 123 },
];

function inventoryReducer(totals, item) {
  // need to see if our prop exists yet - if so, add one to it, otherwise initialize it - can do this two short ways
  // if this isn't true it becomes falsy, so will fall back to the || value
  totals[item.type] = totals[item.type] + 1 || 1;
  // or can use a ternary
  // totals[item.type] ? totals[item.type] + 1 : totals[item.type] = 1;
}

const inventoryCounts = inventory.reduce(inventoryReducer, {});
// will return { shirt: 2, pants: 3, socks: 2 }

// if we're doing simple math, can do this in a one liner
const totalInventoryPrice = inventory.reduce(
  (acc, item) => acc + item.price,
  0,
);

Here’s a more detailed example using lots of stuff we just covered - grab all the text in a random webpage, get every letter and number in that text, and count how many instances of each value we found. Upper and lower case letters should count for the same (A = a). As a bonus, we’ll also sort it so we can see which value is the most popular!

const text = "..."; // this would be your whole text value
// We'll make a few helper functions to perform the actual work
function isValidChar(char) {
  // regular expression to grab anything that's a letter or number - the i makes it case insensitive
  return char.match(/[a-z0-9]/i);
}

const lowercase = (char) => char.toLowerCase();

function instanceCounter(counts, char) {
  counts[char] ? (counts[char] = counts[char] + 1) : (counts[char] = 1);
  // make sure to return the new counts here - otherwise it will be undefined on the next loop through
  return counts;
}

function sortByValue(a, b) {
  return b[1] - a[1];
}

const result = text
  .split("") // split each char into an item of an array
  .filter(isValidChar) // filter so we only get the valid chars
  .map(lowercase) // make them all lowercase
  .reduce(instanceCounter, {}); // then count instances

const sortedResult = Object.entries(result).sort(sortByValue);

For, For In, For Of and While Loops

For loops are the most basic variation of this - it takes in an initial expression, a comparison, and an increment expression. Great for looping over something x number of times.

for (let i = 0; i < numbers.length; i++) {
  console.log(numbers[i]);
}

For of is used for looping over iterables (something with a length). Can use await inside here - used often with Promises. Returns the raw value - so if we did for of on an array of numbers, we’d get back the value for each number. Don’t have access to the index.

for (const num of numbers) {
  console.log(num); // will show 2, 32, 3, 23....
}

For in is similar, but used most for looping over keys of objects. Specifically will also grab the prototype values for the object (where something like Object.entries will only grab properties, not prototype data).

for (const num in numbers) {
  console.log(num); // will show 0, 1, 2, 3.... (indexes)
}

While takes a condition and runs infinitely until that condition is false. Do While works similarly, except it will always run at least once before it checks the condition.

// ALWAYS make sure that somehow you update your condition so it will eventually end! Otherwise you get an infinite loop and the tab/code will crash
let cool = true;
let i = 1;
while (cool === true) {
  console.log("you are cool");
  i++;
  if (i > 100) {
    cool = false;
  }
}

// layout of a do/while
do {
  console.log("you are cool");
  i++;
  if (i > 100) {
    cool = false;
  }
} while (cool === true);

Harder Practice Exercises

Face Detection and Censorship

Covers a lot of things we’ve done before - working with canvas, and reinforcing ideas.

Most interesting thing was how we did the pixelation! You grab an image from the webcam with the .drawImage method on the canvas context to get a tiny picture of the face. Then, you take that tiny image and draw it again, but to the full size of the face!

Sarcastic Text Generator

Silly exercise changing text to different formats.

Main takeaway here is working with methods stored in an object. Since we have three filter options, we can make a method for each one and store them all in a single object. Then when we need one, we can access them with objectName[filter];

Shopping Form with Custom Events, Delegation and LocalStorage

A to-do list example, learning with events and storage.

First big thing this deals with is state - a way to keep track of the current “state” of our site. An object or array of data, which will always tell us the current data we have to make our site work.

Also covering custom events - we have a displayItems function that we will need to call multiple times. Coupling it too tightly with the handleSubmit function makes it so we’re super likely to have duplicated calls or code, since we also want the list to update when something’s removed, and rendered on a reload. So we can make custom events that anything can listen to.

// Can dispatch the event from anywhere we want to trigger the event - here, we're calling it in our submit handler, since we just got new data
function handleSubmit() {
  // ... other code here
  // itemsUpdated can be called anything - that's the name we want for our event
  list.dispatchEvent(new CustomEvent("itemsUpdated"));
}
// then we can add the listener to whatever we want - so this will call and fire our display function whenever our custom event is dispatched
list.addEventListener("itemsUpdated", displayItems);

We’re also using localstorage here - basically a mini database that lives in your browser. So anytime a user comes back to the site from the same browser, the data will still be there. Local storage is text only, so will need to use JSON.stringify on objects to be able to store them.

function mirrorToLocalStorage() {
  // add an item into localstorage
  localStorage.setItem("items", JSON.stringify(items));
}

function restoreFromLocalStorage() {
  // then to get it out, we want to parse it back into an object
  JSON.parse(localStorage.getItem("items"));
}

One issue we run into here is that we want to listen for button clicks on our items so we can delete an item, but it re-renders the list each time we add a new item. So if we want to listen to events when they might not exist yet, we can add the listener to a parent item that WILL be there all the time. So instead of adding click events for each li item, we add the click event to the ul.

Building a Gallery Exercise

Nice little image gallery, where you can click the images to open them larger in a modal. Main focus was using closures to be able to contain all the gallery logic so it can be reused for multiple galleries.

Slider

A simple slide deck! More reinforcement of the same topics we used in the gallery exercise.

Prototypes, This, New, and Inheritance

The New Keyword

new creates a new instance of whatever object we’re calling it on. This gives us a bunch of prototype functions that we can run on it. Some, like arrays and objects, have a literal syntax that abstracts away the need to use the new keyword (hence why we can make an array like const names = ['wes', 'kait']; and we get access to properties like .pop). However some don’t have a literal syntax, so we need to use new in front of it to make a new instance and have access to new properties.

For the functions we define, if we call them with just the function name, we get back whatever that function returns. But if we call it with new in front, we get back a new instance of that function. Instead of just getting whatever result is returned from the function, we get our own copy of the function, along with any functions it might contain inside it.

The This Keyword

this refers to the instance of an object that a function is bound to.

One example - if we create some buttons on a page, those are instances of a button element. If we then add an event listener to them, and pass in a function that logs what this is equal to, we’ll get that button back.

const button1 = document.querySelector(".one");

function tellMeAboutTheButton() {
  console.log(this);
  // this will show <button class="one">Button 1</button>
}
// the addEventListener method will now bind this function to our button, setting the `this` keyword to our button
button1.addEventListener("click", tellMeAboutTheButton);

this is always scoped to a function. This is why arrow functions act a bit different - they’re scoped to whatever was bound before the function, so if they’re globally defined this is equal to the window (instead of, say, our button we called it on).

This can be useful for nested functions. Since every time we call this it makes a new instance of it, if we have regular functions inside others, what this is equal to will change. However, since arrow functions keep the binding of whatever parent element they’re in, they work excellent for situations like this.

// here, the outside 'this' will be the button, but the inside 'this' will be the window
function tellMeAboutTheButton() {
  console.log("outside", this);
  // to fix this, you'll often see:
  // const that = this;
  setTimeout(function () {
    console.log("inside", this);
    // then this. would become that.
    this.textContent = "You Clicked Me";
  }, 1000);
}

// but if we do an arrow function inside, both 'this' logs will be the button
function tellMeAboutTheButton() {
  console.log("outside", this);
  setTimeout(() => {
    console.log("inside", this);
    this.textContent = "You Clicked Me";
  }, 1000);
}

You’ll also see this used often when you’re making functions intended to be used to make multiple, new versions of itself.

function Pizza(toppings = [], customer) {
  // these will store a version of these values to each instance
  this.toppings = toppings;
  this.customer = customer;
  // this just returns a random hex value, not guaranteed to be unique but a wide enough range it works for small examples
  this.id = Math.floor(Math.random() * 16777215).toString(16);
}

// then when we make a new instance, we'll have a unique version stored
const pepperoniPizza = new Pizza(["pepperoni"], "Wes Bos");

Prototypes and Prototypal Inheritance

Prototypes allow us to share functionality between instances.

Say we want to give our Pizza function the ability to eat slices. If we declare the eat function inside of our Pizza function, that will make a new instance of that function for every Pizza we create. While this might work fine for small jobs where you only make 1 or 2 instances, it’s not maintainable for larger jobs and will slow things down.

Instead, we can define the function once outside of the Pizza function and link it to that, so we can use the same function for every instance we create. This is why, if we have two different arrays, they use the same filter method - it’s defined on the prototype, so it’s the same function that can run on any instance of Array. This also allows us to only need to update the function in one place for it to apply to every instance.

Instances will first look inside themselves to see if that property exists. If not, it will go to the parent instance (the prototype) and see if it exists there. If so, it can use it.

Built in instances of methods can be overwritten - it’s very rare you’ll want to do this, but it is possible. Mostly, it’s used for creating polyfills when a browser doesn’t support that functionality yet. Can also add new methods to the prototype as well, though again it’s not recommended for built ins.

Bind, Call, and Apply

These functions are used to change the scope of what this means in functions.

Typically, this is defined by what’s to the left of the . it’s called on. So if we make an object and include a method, using this.prop inside that method will be bound to our object. However, if we make a variable storing a reference to that method then call it from the variable, this will now be bound to the window, not the object.

const person = {
  name: "Linda",
  sayHi() {
    // 'this' here is bound to this person object
    return `hey ${this.name}`;
  },
};

// but if we call it from here, 'this' is bound to the window, so we don't have access to the name value
const sayHi = person.sayHi;

Important note: this is defined by where the function is being called, NOT where it is defined.

We can use bind to change where this is defined, or what it’s bound to. bind lives on all functions - so if we wanted to use this same method with different name values, we can simply pass those to bind and still have the functionality we want.

// if we re-write our variable with 'bind', it will make 'this' set to whatever we pass into it - so now we'll have access to the person object
const sayHi = person.sayHi.bind(person);

// another example - can use 'bind' to make a shorthand for querySelector
// since QS needs something to look inside of, we have to use 'bind' to store what we want to count as 'this'
const $ = document.querySelector.bind(document);
console.log($("p"));

// With `bind`, can also pass in arguments that apply to the function as well
const bill = {
  total: 1000,
  calculate: function (taxRate) {
    return this.total + this.total * taxRate;
  },
};

// the first argument to 'bind' is always what you want to use for 'this'; everything else can be arguments to pass to the function in the order they're defined
const calc = bill.calculate.bind({ total: 500 }, 0.0825);

call and apply work very similarly to bind. Basically:

• To bind a function and call it later, use bind (returns a function)
• To bind a function and call it immediately, use call (runs function right away)
• The main difference between call and apply is that apply accepts a single array of arguments

const bill = {
  total: 1000,
  calculate: function (taxRate) {
    return this.total + this.total * taxRate;
  },
  describe(mealType, drinkType, taxRate) {
    return `Your meal of ${mealType} with a drink of ${drinkType} was ${this.calculate(taxRate)}`;
  },
};

// call will run this function immediately and store it in the variable
const myMeal = bill.describe.call(bill, "pizza", "beer", 0.13);
// apply will do the same thing, but takes the arguments as an array
const myMeal2 = bill.describe.apply(bill, ["pizza", "beer", 0.13]);

Advanced Flow Control

The Event Loop and Callback Hell

JavaScript is single threaded - only one thing can be running at a time. It runs things asynchronously, so things won’t always run in the order you write them.

If you need to chain multiple events together, you end up nesting multiple functions since they depend on each other. This is often called ‘callback hell’ - your code gets hard to read because it’s so nested, and it can be difficult to troubleshoot.

// a simple example of needing multiple nested functions - callback hell
const go = document.querySelector(".go");
// change the text to go when clicked
go.addEventListener("click", function (e) {
  const el = e.currentTarget;
  el.textContent = "GO!";
  // make it a circle after 2 seconds
  setTimeout(function () {
    el.classList.add("circle");
    // make it red after 0.5s
    setTimeout(function () {
      el.classList.add("red");
      // make it square after 0.25s
      setTimeout(function () {
        el.classList.remove("circle");
        // make it purple after 0.3s
        setTimeout(function () {
          el.classList.remove("red");
          el.classList.add("purple");
          // fade out after 0.5s
          setTimeout(function () {
            el.classList.add("fadeOut");
          }, 500);
        }, 300);
      }, 250);
    }, 500);
  }, 2000);
});

Promises

An IOU for something that will happen in the future. Often when we need to ask for data (a timer, an API request, etc), it takes time to complete that process. However we don’t want to completely stop our pages from loading while we wait. With promises, we get a ‘promise’ back when we send off our requests, so eventually when the call or action is done we get a response back.

// pizza is a great example - we call to place an order and get an order number (a promise of pizza in the future). then the pizza is cooked and eventually, when it's ready, we get the pizza!
function makePizza(toppings = []) {
  // will immediately return the promise we create - a promise gives us access to a resolve case and a reject case
  return new Promise(function (resolve, reject) {
    // pizza's need to cook - so we can set an amount of time based on how many toppings are on it
    const bakeTime = 500 + (toppings.length * 200);
    setTimeout(function () {
      // when it's done, resolve the pizza
      resolve(`Here is your pizza 🍕 with ${toppings.join(' ')} toppings`);
    }, bakeTime);
    // if something went wrong, we handle reject here
  });
}

// when we set it up, we get back a promise
const pepperoniPizza = makePizza(['pepperoni', 'cheese']);

// then to get the data from that promise, we call then on it
pepperoniPizza.then(function (pizza) {
  console.log(`Ahhh, got it! ${pizza}`);

// or, if our oven can only handle one at a time, we can chain promises to make a bunch of pizzas
makePizza(['pepperoni'])
  .then(function (pizza) {
    console.log(pizza);
    return makePizza(['ham', 'cheese'])
  })
  .then(function (pizza) {
    console.log(pizza);
    return makePizza(['peppers', 'onion', 'feta'])
  })
  .then(function (pizza) {
    console.log(pizza);
    return makePizza()
  })
  .then(function (pizza) {
    console.log(pizza);
    return makePizza(['one', 'two', 'three', 'four', 'five', 'six', 'seven'])
  })
  .then(pizza => {
    console.log('Final pizza!');
    console.log(pizza);
  })
});

// we can also run them concurrently, say if we have a huge oven that can make multiple at once
const pizzaPromise1 = makePizza(['ham', 'cheese']);
const pizzaPromise2 = makePizza(['pepperoni', 'pineapple', 'bacon']);
const pizzaPromise3 = makePizza(['cheese']);

// we can use the static method .all to wait until all are done, then return them all at once
const dinnerPromise = Promise.all([hamAndCheese, theBest, cheese]) {
  console.log({ hamAndCheese, theBest, cheese });
}

Promise.all only resolves when all of the promises passed in are resolved. There’s also Promise.race, which will return the first promise that resolves from a group.

Promises - Error Handling

It’s also possible for us to handle errors with promises! We catch errors with the .catch method. Most promises will always have at least one .then to handle the success case, and a .catch to handle an error case. In a chain, the catch can go once at the end of the chain. However, note that anything after that error won’t be completed.

// our pizza function again, with error handling
function makePizza(toppings = []) {
  return new Promise(function (resolve, reject) {
    // reject if toppings includes olives
    if (toppings.includes("olives")) {
      reject("Seriously? No olives allowed!");
    }
    const bakeTime = 500 + toppings.length * 200;
    setTimeout(function () {
      // when it's done, resolve the pizza
      resolve(`Here is your pizza 🍕 with ${toppings.join(" ")} toppings`);
    }, bakeTime);
  });
}

makePizza(["ham", "olives"])
  .then((pizza) => {
    console.log(pizza);
  })
  .catch((err) => {
    console.log(`Oh no!! ${err}`);
  });

// if we need to run a few promises and get them all no matter if one failed or not, can use this
const p1 = makePizza(["pepperoni"]);
const p2 = makePizza(["olives"]);

const dinnerPromise2 = Promise.allSettled([p1, p2]);

dinnerPromise2.then((results) => {
  // this will give us the result of each one - so can grab ones that are fulfilled/resolved, or ones that are rejected
  console.log(results);
});

Refactoring Callback Hell to Promise Land

Taking our nested setTimeout function from earlier and converting it to use promises instead.

function animate(e) {
  const el = e.currentTarget;
  el.textContent = "GO";
  wait(200)
    .then(() => {
      el.classList.add("circle");
      return wait(500);
    })
    .then(() => {
      el.classList.add("red");
      return wait(250);
    })
    .then(() => {
      el.classList.remove("circle");
      return wait(500);
    })
    .then(() => {
      el.classList.remove("red");
      el.classList.add("purple");
      return wait(500);
    })
    .then(() => {
      el.classList.add("fadeOut");
    });
}

Async Await

With async await, we don’t change how our function that makes the promise is written. Our makePizza function from earlier stays the same. Async await changes how we call that function and get our results. Await only pauses that particular function - so the rest of your JS will continue running.

function wait(ms = 0) {
  return new Promise((resolve) => {
    setTimeout(resolve, ms);
  });
}

// can only use await in an async function - async tells the function there's going to be a call inside that needs to wait for something
async function go() {
  console.log("starting");
  // await pauses this function until the promise is resolved
  await wait(2000);
  console.log("running");
  // can have as many as you need
  await wait(200);
  console.log("ending");
}

go();

// Can mark any type of function as async.

// function declaration
async function fd() {}

// arrow
const arrowFn = async () => {};

// callback
window.addEventListener("click", async function () {});

const person = {
  // method
  sayHi: async function () {},
  // method shorthand
  async sayHello() {},
  // function property
  sayHey: async () => {},
};

async function makeDinner() {
  // to keep things performing well if you have multiple promises, can put await on a .all call
  const pizza1 = makePizza();
  const pizza2 = makePizza();
  const pizzas = await Promise.all(pizza1, pizza2);
  console.log(pizzas);
}

// updated version of the animate function
async function animate2(e) {
  const el = e.currentTarget;
  el.textContent = "GO";
  await wait(200);
  el.classList.add("circle");
  await wait(500);
  el.classList.add("red");
  await wait(250);
  el.classList.remove("circle");
  await wait(500);
  el.classList.remove("red");
  el.classList.add("purple");
  await wait(500);
  el.classList.add("fadeOut");
}

Async Await Error Handling

Since we don’t have .then in async await, we can instead use try & catch to catch the errors, if they happen.

When a function is marked as async, it automatically returns a promise.

async function go() {
  // anything that resolves/fulfills will happen here
  try {
    const pizza = await makePizza(["olives"]);
    console.log(pizza);
    // then any errors will be caught here
  } catch (err) {
    console.log(`Ewww! ${err}`);
  }
}

// can also mix and match, and put the catch at the end of the await
async function go() {
  const pizza = await makePizza(["olives"]).catch(handleError);
}

// or can handle the error when we call the function - can also catch unrelated errors
go().catch(handleError);

// if your function and error handler will need to be used multiple times, can also write a higher order function, and make a variable with the error handler attached
function makeSafe(fn, errorHandler) {
  return function () {
    fn().catch(errorHandler);
  };
}

const safeGo = makeSafe(go, handleError);
safeGo();

Async Await Projects

Quick note on pure functions - a “pure” function is a function that given the same inputs, will always return the same output. Dates and random numbers do NOT fit into this, since they, by nature of time passing / randomization, will always be different when you run them.

If you want a random number generator to be easily testable, you can pass in the random value as an argument. So you can test it with a consistent number, then when you’re ready to use it pass in Math.random.

function getRandom(min = 20, max = 150, randomNumber = Math.random()) {
  return Math.floor(randomNumber * (max - min) + min);
}

Ajax and Fetching Data

Ajax and APIs

API (application program interface) is a way that sites will store their data which we can call and use in our own sites. Most often they’ll return that data in JSON. The API servers will return that data in a string, so we’ll need to use JSON.parse on it to turn it into an object we can use.

Browsers have a built in way to get data from outside sources and bring them into your file, called fetch. Fetch returns a promise, which we can then get the JSON from.

const endpoint = "https://api.github.com/users/wesbos";

const wesPromise = fetch(endpoint);
wesPromise
  .then((response) => {
    // the response we get can contain different data depending on what we fetched - a lot of APIs return JSON, so we need to convert it
    return response.json();
  })
  .then((data) => {
    // now we have the data in a format we can use
    console.log(data);
  })
  .catch(handleError);

CORS and Recipes

Often, we can pass variables to API urls - these will go after a ? in the url. What exactly they’ll look like varies by API, but it’ll always start with a ? and if multiple are allowed, they’ll be separated by &.

CORS (cross origin resource sharing) - by default, you can’t share data from one domain name to another; this helps keep sites secure. In order to share data (like when we fetch an API), the server we want to get data from needs to have a CORS policy on their server.

If they don’t have a CORS policy, you’ve got two options - run your own server that handles fetching the data and sending it to your front end (server - server fetching doesn’t need CORS, it’s more for sending it directly to a browser), or you can use a CORS proxy (someone else’s server that processes the data and then sends it to your front end). DO NOT use a proxy if you’re getting sensitive data!! Will be fine for test APIs that don’t contain sensitive information.

If you run into a regeneratorRuntime error - probably a Babel issue with trying to compile an async function. To fix, add a ‘browserslist’ property to your package.json file that supports ‘last 1 chrome versions’.

const baseEndpoint = "http://www.recipepuppy.com/api";
const proxy = `https://cors-anywhere.herokuapp.com/`;

async function fetchRecipes(query) {
  const res = await fetch(`${proxy}${baseEndpoint}?q=${query}`);
  const data = await res.json();
  return data;
}

Other API Tidbits

You can pass headers to fetch! So if an API gives you the option to pass an Accept header telling it what format you want the data in, you can pass that through fetch.

const response = await fetch("https://icanhazdadjoke.com", {
  headers: {
    Accept: "application/json",
  },
});

ES Modules and Structuring Larger Apps

Modules

Modules are a way to share some code across multiple files or projects. It’s a way to bundle a specific functionality that we can then use anywhere we can add it in. It will have it’s own scope and can hold any type of data and functionality we want.

Modules will only work when running on a server, so you’ll need to use localhost for development purposes.

Typically you’ll only have one script tag on your HTML page, to an entry point js file. Then you’ll add a type attribute set to module.

<script src="./scripts.js" type="module"></script>

To share some functionality between modules / files, we have to first export it from the file it’s defined in. There’s a few ways to do this. Typically, if our module only does one thing, it’s common to export it as a default - if it does multiple things (like a utils library), it’s common to export them as named modules.

// we can simply put export in front of the function
export function returnHi(name) {
  return `hi ${name}`;
}

// since modules have scope, we can use variables declared in this file in our functions here, and they will still be used when we call the function in other files.
const last = 'bos';
export function returnHi(name) {
  return `hi ${name} ${last}`;
}

// we can use named exports at the end of the file as well - there can be as many named exports as you want - they'll all go in {}
export { last };

// each module gets only one default export
const person = {
  name: 'wes',
  last: 'bos',
}

export default person;

// you can also do both - have one default export, and some named exports
export default person;
export { last };

Then to use the export, we need to import it in the file we want to use it.

// we list the name of the function, and the relative path of where it's located
import { returnHi } from "./utils.js";
// if we're importing a default export, we don't need the {} and can name it anything we want to use it as
import wes from "./wes.js";
// we can also import a default and named values - the default goes first, then the named ones in brackets
import first, { returnHi, last } from "./utils.js";
// if we want to rename a named function, that's possible
import { returnHi as sayHi } from "./utils.js";
// if we want to pull in all the exports from a file, can use *
import * as everything from "./wes.js";

console.log(returnHi("wes"));

A solid way to structure your files is using your main entry point to grab your selectors and set up event listeners. Then any functionality (how you handle clicks, utilities to run, etc) will go in separate files that you can import in when you need them.

// scripts.js
import { handleButtonClick } from "./handlers.js";
const button = document.querySelector("button");
button.addEventListener("click", handleButtonClick);

// handlers.js
export async function handleButtonClick(event) {
  // can also dynamically load exported functions as needed - the browser will cache this after the initial call
  const currenciesModule = await import("./currencies.js");
  // then if we want a specific bit, we can use dot notation to get it
  console.log(currenciesModule.default);

  // can use destructuring here, too! though note: we can't have a variable named default (it's a reserved word), so will need to rename it
  const { localCurrency, default: currency } = await import("./currencies.js");
}

Also side note - if you run into issues with the Parcel server not working with your async / await functions or modules, try adding this to your package.json:

"browserslist": [
  "last 1 chrome versions"
]

Bundling and Building with Parcel

Bundlers are often used to compress all your files, making them smaller and faster for computers to run. There’s lots of options out there - this course covers Parcel. When we’re ready to run it, we make a script in our package.json that will run the command ‘parcel build index.html’ (or whatever your entry html file is for your project).

Using Open Source NPM Packages

Lots of complied packages exist on the npm registry that we can use.

Node projects can use require (which is a CommonJS module) or import (a ES Module) to bring packages in. It will need to use one type or the other, not both. So if you look up a package and they use one version or the other, that’s why.

A few packages that might be worth playing around with:

Faker - generates mock data for browser or node - great for when you need data to play with but don’t want to write it up yourself.

Date.fns - Nice way to work with dates.

Axios - Works similar to fetch for making API calls. Has some decent defaults, and also works in Node!

Lodash - Utility library with lots of functionality.

Security

JavaScript code is all public - we ship it all to the browser and tell it to run it. This means that you should never put any sensitive information in your code - even if you try to cover or obscure it, there will always be someone who can read it. Most sensitive information things are handled on the server, but there are a few things that are client side and we should be aware of them.

Anytime you’re taking in information from users that will be displayed on the page, sanitize it! Especially if it allows for HTML or markdown, or something more than a strict text field. This is called Cross Site Scripting (XSS) and can allow someone to run JS on your page and do things you don’t want.

There’s a package called dompurify that can help with this - will sanitize input data to remove any potential issues we don’t want. Be default it looks for JS issues, but you can also pass other things like style tags that you don’t want to allow as well.

When sending data, make sure you send it through https - this helps make sure the data you’re getting or sending is encrypted so it’s more difficult for someone to hijack that request and get your data.