1

More Javascript
Syntax

Lecture 7
 Variables
2

var name = expression; JS

var clientName = "Connie Client";

var age = 32;
var weight = 127.4; JS
 variables are declared with the var
keyword (case sensitive)
 types are not specified, but JS does have
types ("loosely typed")
 Number, Boolean, String, Array, Object,
Function, Null, Undefined
 can find out a variable's type by calling
typeof
 Number type
3

var enrollment = 99;

var medianGrade = 2.8;
var credits = 5 + 4 + (2 * 3);
JS

 integers and real numbers are the same

type (no int vs. double)
 same operators: + - * / % ++ -- = += -=
*= /= %=
 similar precedence to Java
 many operators auto-convert types: "2"
* 3 is 6
 Comments (same as Java)
4

// single-line comment
/* multi-line comment */
JS

 identical to Java's comment syntax

 recall: 4 comment syntaxes
 HTML: <!-- comment -->
 CSS/JS: /* comment */
 Java/JS: // comment
 Math object
5

var rand1to10 = Math.floor(Math.random() * 10 + 1);

var three = Math.floor(Math.PI);
JS

 methods: abs, ceil, cos, floor, log,

max, min, pow, random, round, sin,
sqrt, tan
 properties: E, PI
 Special values: null and
6
undefined
var ned = null;
var benson = 9;
// at this point in the code,
// ned is null
// benson's 9
// caroline is undefined
JS

 undefined : has not been declared, does

not exist
 null : exists, but was specifically
assigned an empty or null value
 Why does JavaScript have both of these?
 Logical operators
7

 > < >= <= && || ! == != === !==

 most logical operators automatically
convert types:
 5 < "7" is true
 42 == 42.0 is true
 "5.0" == 5 is true
 === and !== are strict equality tests;
checks both type and value
 "5.0" === 5 is false
 if/else statement (same as
8
Java)
if (condition) {
statements;
} else if (condition) {
statements;
} else {
statements;
}
JS
 identical structure to Java's if/else
statement
 JavaScript allows almost anything as a
condition
 Boolean type
9

var iLike190M = true;

var ieIsGood = "IE6" > 0; // false
if ("web devevelopment is great") { /* true */ }
if (0) { /* false */ }
JS
 any value can be used as a Boolean
 "falsey" values: 0, 0.0, NaN, "", null, and
undefined
 "truthy" values: anything else
 converting a value into a Boolean
explicitly:
 var boolValue = Boolean(otherValue);
 for loop (same as Java)
10

var sum = 0;
for (var i = 0; i < 100; i++) {
sum = sum + i;
}
JS
var s1 = "hello";
var s2 = "";
for (var i = 0; i < s.length; i++) {
s2 += s1.charAt(i) + s1.charAt(i);
}
// s2 stores "hheelllloo"
JS
 while loops (same as Java)
11

while (condition) {
statements;
} JS

do {
statements;
} while (condition);
JS

 break and continue keywords also

behave as in Java
 Popup boxes
12

alert("message"); // message
confirm("message"); // returns true or false
prompt("message"); // returns user input string
JS
 Arrays
13

var name = []; // empty array

var name = [value, value, ..., value]; // pre-filled
name[index] = value; // store element
JS

var ducks = ["Huey", "Dewey", "Louie"];

var stooges = []; // stooges.length is 0
stooges[0] = "Larry"; // stooges.length is 1
stooges[1] = "Moe"; // stooges.length is 2
stooges[4] = "Curly"; // stooges.length is 5
stooges[4] = "Shemp"; // stooges.length is 5
JS
 Array methods
14
var a = ["Stef", "Jason"]; // Stef, Jason
a.push("Brian"); // Stef, Jason, Brian
a.unshift("Kelly"); // Kelly, Stef, Jason, Brian
a.pop(); // Kelly, Stef, Jason
a.shift(); // Stef, Jason
a.sort(); // Jason, Stef
JS
 array serves as many data structures: list,
queue, stack, ...
 methods: concat, join, pop, push, reverse,
shift, slice, sort, splice, toString, unshift
 push and pop add / remove from back
 unshift and shift add / remove from front
 shift and pop return the element that is
removed
 String type
15

var s = "Connie Client";

var fName = s.substring(0, s.indexOf(" ")); // "Connie"
var len = s.length; // 13
var s2 = 'Melvin Merchant';
JS
 methods: charAt, charCodeAt,
fromCharCode, indexOf, lastIndexOf,
replace, split, substring, toLowerCase,
toUpperCase
 charAt returns a one-letter String (there is
no char type)
 length property (not a method as in Java)
 Strings can be specified with "" or ''

 More about String
16
 escape sequences behave as in Java: \' \"
\& \n \t \\
 converting between numbers and
var Strings:
count = 10;
var s1 = "" + count; // "10"
var s2 = count + " bananas, ah ah ah!"; // "10 bananas, ah
ah ah!"
var n1 = parseInt("42 is the answer"); // 42
var n2 = parseFloat("booyah"); // NaN JS

 accessing the letters of a String:

var firstLetter = s[0]; // fails in IE
var firstLetter = s.charAt(0); // does work in IE
var lastLetter = s.charAt(s.length - 1);
JS
 Splitting strings: split and
17
join
var s = "the quick brown fox";
var a = s.split(" "); // ["the", "quick", "brown", "fox"]
a.reverse(); // ["fox", "brown", "quick", "the"]
s = a.join("!"); // "fox!brown!quick!the"
JS

 split breaks apart a string into an array

using a delimiter
 can also be used with regular expressions
(seen later)
 join merges an array into a single string,
placing a delimiter between them
18

Any Question ??