Appearance
Javascript Basics
Coming from another language, it can be difficult to get up to speed in a new ecosystem.
https://developer.mozilla.org/en-US/docs/Web/JavaScript/Reference
Interpreters
There's one in your web browser.
Or there's node that you can install locally and run interactively.
Dates
js
Date.now()https://developer.mozilla.org/en-US/docs/Web/JavaScript/Reference/Global_Objects/Date
See also: dates
Type Casting
String to a Number:
js
var x = Number("1000")parseInt is another option
js
var x = parseInt("1000", 10);Strings
Remove whitespace
js
myString = myString.trim();In python, this is equivalent to .strip()
Replace string
js
p.replace('original', 'new')https://developer.mozilla.org/en-US/docs/Web/JavaScript/Reference/Global_Objects/String/replace
Sanitize string
Use a regular expression to remove all non-alphanumeric characters from a string:
js
input.replace(/\W/g, '')https://stackoverflow.com/questions/9364400/remove-not-alphanumeric-characters-from-string
Split String
js
const parts = original.split('/')Suppose you just want the YYYY-MM-DD part of a string...
js
var fulldate = "2021-04-30T18:06:15.625Z";
var day = fulldate.substring(0, 10);Looks like an alternative is fulldate.substr(2, 2) -- is there a difference?
substring doesn't accept negative indexes like python:
js
cwd = line.substring(0, -1) // won't work!Instead, use
js
cwd = line.substring(0, line.length - 1)Join Array into String
js
console.log(elements.join('-'));https://developer.mozilla.org/en-US/docs/Web/JavaScript/Reference/Global_Objects/Array/join
Backticks / Template Literals
Template literals can be used to represent multi-line strings and may use "interpolation" to insert variables:
js
var a = 123, str = `---
a is: ${a}
---`;
console.log(str);https://stackoverflow.com/questions/27678052/usage-of-the-backtick-character-in-javascript Usage of the backtick character (`) in JavaScript - Stack Overflow
Does one string contain another string
js
const string = "foo";
const substring = "oo";
console.log(string.includes(substring)); // trueFormatting Numbers
js
const str1 = '5';
console.log(str1.padStart(2, '0'));https://developer.mozilla.org/en-US/docs/Web/JavaScript/Reference/Global_Objects/String/padStart
https://duckduckgo.com/?q=javascript+format+number+leading+zeros&ia=web
Arrays
Length
js
items.lengthNote: It's a property, not a method
Negative Indexing
Cannot use a negative index to get an item a certain distance from the end of an array. Instead, use the array length property
js
items[items.length - 2]Check for item in array
For frequently checking if an item is part of a group, and object is more efficient. If an array is necessary / easier, includes() is a good option:
js
[1, 2, 3].includes(1) => truehttps://stackoverflow.com/questions/7378228/check-if-an-element-is-present-in-an-array
indexOf is the most widely compatible method:
js
[1, 2, 3].indexOf(1) => 0Important: to test for existence in an array, check if the result == -1:
js
if ([1, 2, 3].indexOf(4) === -1) {
console.log("does not exist")
}Sometimes, with arrays of complex objects, indexOf() or includes() doesn't work. In that case, a raw iteration over the array of elements is the next best option.
js
array.forEach((item, index) => {
console.log(item)
}Once you know what you want to compare, update the check:
js
this.otherProjects = []
this.projects.forEach((item, index) => {
if (item._id !== this.project._id) {
this.otherProjects.push(item)
} else {
// console.log('skipping current project', item)
}
})There is also array.some(). The some() method tests whether at least one element in the array passes the test implemented by the provided function. It returns a Boolean value.
js
const array = [1, 2, 3, 4, 5];
// checks whether an element is even
const even = (element) => element % 2 === 0;
console.log(array.some(even));
// expected output: truehttps://developer.mozilla.org/en-US/docs/Web/JavaScript/Reference/Global_Objects/Array/some
Modify Arrays
To append a value to the end of an array:
js
array.push(item);To insert a value at the beginning of an array:
js
array.unshift(item);splice() changes the original array slice() preserves the original array both return the modified array
js
//splice
var array=[1,2,3,4,5];
console.log(array.splice(2));
//slice
var array2=[1,2,3,4,5]
console.log(array2.slice(2));
console.log("----after-----");
console.log(array);
console.log(array2);https://stackoverflow.com/questions/37601282/javascript-array-splice-vs-slice
Remove item from array
To remove an element from an array:
js
var index = array.indexOf(item);
if (index !== -1) array.splice(index, 1);https://stackoverflow.com/questions/3954438/how-to-remove-item-from-array-by-value
Map, Filter, Reduce
Higher level functions for working with items in an array
https://developer.mozilla.org/en-US/docs/Web/JavaScript/Reference/Global_Objects/Array/map
js
// Arrow function
map((element) => { ... })
map((element, index) => { ... })
map((element, index, array) => { ... })Copy Objects / Arrays
For a quick deep copy: JSON.parse(JSON.stringify(jsonObject))
For a shallow copy, the spread syntax may be enough:
js
var A3 = {...A1}; // Spread Syntaxhttps://stackoverflow.com/questions/728360/how-do-i-correctly-clone-a-javascript-object
The slice() array method can be used to copy arrays by not passing any arguments arr1 = arr0.slice()
Spread Operator
'...' Three dots in front of an array expands it out. Can be used to copy.
https://tenmilesquare.com/5-uses-for-the-spread-operator/
for Loops
Can always use the basic format of
js
for (let i=0, i<10, i++) {
console.log(i);
}That's a bit verbose in most cases. Usually want to iterate over something, just be sure to use the right version:
https://stackoverflow.com/questions/3010840/loop-through-an-array-in-javascript
for - of works for iterating items in a list
js
for (const x of xs) { console.log(x); }for - in is used to enumerate object properties NOT GOOD FOR LISTS!
There is also
js
xs.forEach((x, i) => console.log(x));Loop over an object's keys in ES6
js
Object.keys(items).forEach((x, i) => {
console.log(x);
console.log(items[x]);
});Loop & Remove
If you want to remove items from an array that you are looping over, work backwards from the end:
js
for (var i = items.length - 1; i >= 0; i--) {
if (items[i].label == next.label) {
items.splice(i, 1);
}
}Objects
Show attributes of object
js
console.log(Object.keys(app));very similar to python dir() command
Check for item in object
If you want to frequently test if an item exists, using an Object / Hash / Dictionary / Map should perform better than an array.
myObj.hasOwnProperty('myKey');
Note: when doing this in a Vue application with eslint enabled, you may get an error like:
error Do not access Object.prototype method 'hasOwnProperty' from target object no-prototype-builtins
To get around that, you can use the following pattern:
Object.prototype.hasOwnProperty.call(myObj, 'myKey')
Group Items by Key
Handy when you want to know how many items share the same key, but you also want to keep track of the list of the original items
js
let groups = {}
originalList.forEach(item => {
const curName = item.attributeOfInterest?.toUpperCase()
// console.log("Looking for existing group:", curName);
if (Object.prototype.hasOwnProperty.call(groups, curName)) {
groups[curName].push(item)
} else {
groups[curName] = [item]
}
})Remove a key from an object
delete exampleObject["key"];https://stackoverflow.com/questions/3455405/how-do-i-remove-a-key-from-a-javascript-object
Regular Expressions
let re = /ab+c/;
match() Returns an array containing all of the matches, including capturing groups, or null if no match is found. matchAll() Returns an iterator containing all of the matches, including capturing groups. search() Tests for a match in a string. It returns the index of the match, or -1 if the search fails. replace() Executes a search for a match in a string, and replaces the matched substring with a replacement substring. replaceAll() Executes a search for all matches in a string, and replaces the matched substrings with a replacement substring.
https://developer.mozilla.org/en-US/docs/Web/JavaScript/Guide/Regular_Expressions
Remember, if using search() be sure to check if the position === -1. Just using if-search will always be true (because -1 is not false in javascript).
Time
Basic way is to use setTimeout with a callback function:
js
setTimeout(() => {
console.log("Called after 1 second");
}, 1000);A more promise friendly approach
js
function delay(milliseconds){
return new Promise(resolve => {
setTimeout(resolve, milliseconds);
});
}
async function stuff(){
console.log("Called immediately");
await delay(1000);
console.log("Called after 1 second delay");
}
stuff();https://duckduckgo.com/?q=javascript+wait+1+second&t=ffab&ia=web
javascript wait 1 second at DuckDuckGo
https://alvarotrigo.com/blog/wait-1-second-javascript/
Force to Wait 1 Second [JavaScript - 2022]
Range
In python, there is a great function for range.
Can use something like lodash to add these functions in
People seem to get upset about extra libraries like lodash or jquery or ... saying that vanilla javascript is up to the task.
Sure.
Array.from(new Array(20), (x, i) => i + *lowerBound*);
Is a native vanilla range operation.
But range(1,12) is super easy to remember. Just have to remember if that upper limit is inclusive, or do you need to bump it up by one to get the range you want. Try it. See.
js
range(start = 0, end = undefined, step = 1) {
console.log('range called with', start, end, step)
start = parseInt(start)
end = parseInt(end)
step = parseInt(step)
let result = []
while (start < end) {
start += step
if (start <= end) {
result.push(start)
}
}
return result
},console.log([...range(2, 5, 2)])
Not memory efficient for large ranges!!
Adapted from:
https://dev.to/ycmjason/how-to-create-range-in-javascript-539i
https://duckduckgo.com/?t=canonical&q=javascript+range&ia=web
javascript range at DuckDuckGo
https://stackoverflow.com/questions/3895478/does-javascript-have-a-method-like-range-to-generate-a-range-within-the-supp
arrays - Does JavaScript have a method like "range()" to generate a range within the supplied bounds? - Stack Overflow
https://2ality.com/2014/05/es6-array-methods.html
ECMAScript 6’s new array methods
https://dev.to/ycmjason/how-to-create-range-in-javascript-539i
JavaScript Range: How to create range in Javascript - DEV Community
https://duckduckgo.com/?t=canonical&q=javascript+array+slice&ia=web
javascript array slice at DuckDuckGo
https://developer.mozilla.org/en-US/docs/Web/JavaScript/Reference/Global_Objects/Array/slice
Array.prototype.slice() - JavaScript | MDN