JavaScript: Best Practices for Data

Course details

You know you want to write JavaScript code for maximal consistency, maintainability, and comprehensibility. Logic is one thing—data is another. This course explores the tools and approaches for keeping your data and data structures clean, uncluttered, and efficient. Instructor Sasha Vodnik introduces best practices from industry-standard style guides and introduces tools that will help you flag deviations as well as format code as you write it. He discusses moderns strategies for creating and using variables, assigning values, typecasting values, and making comparisons. These are the techniques that experienced JavaScript programmers use to optimize the way their applications handle data and keep their code up to date with the latest standards.

Topics include:
- Style guides
- Modern deployment tools
- Better ways to declare variables
- Removing unused variables
- Assigning values
- Creating arrays and objects using literals
- Typecasting strings, numbers, and Booleans
- Comparing values appropriately
- Adding parentheses to clarify logic

Concepts

Introduction

Working effectively with JavaScript data
What you should know
Setting up your environment

Why Best Practices

Understanding style guides
Using modern deployment tools
Understanding ESLint
Foundational practice - Always use strict mode

Declaring Variables

Prefer const, then let
Use individual statements to create variables
Create descriptive variable names
Standardize acronym case
Remove unused variables
Challenge - Declare variables
Solution - Declare variables

Assigning Values

Don't assign variables in chains
Standardize quotes
Create arrays and objects using literals
Quote object property names consistently
Challenge - Assign values
Solution - Assign values

Type Casting

Type cast strings with the String wrapper
Type cast numbers with the Number wrapper
Type cast Booleans using double negation
Rely on implicit Boolean values in conditionals
Challenge - Type cast
Solution - Type cast

Comparing Values

Use triple-character equality operators
Don't use Yoda conditions
Compare appropriately for the data type
Use ternary statements judiciously
Add parentheses to clarify logic
Challenge - Compare values
Solution - Compare values

Conclusion

Next steps