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

0. Introduction

01 - Working effectively with JavaScript data
02 - What you should know
03 - Setting up your environment

1. Why Best Practices

04 - Understanding style guides
05 - Using modern deployment tools
06 - Understanding ESLint
07 - Foundational practice - Always use strict mode

2. Declaring Variables

08 - Prefer const, then let
09 - Use individual statements to create variables
10 - Create descriptive variable names
11 - Standardize acronym case
12 - Remove unused variables
13 - Challenge - Declare variables
14 - Solution - Declare variables

3. Assigning Values

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

4. Type Casting

21 - Type cast strings with the String wrapper
22 - Type cast numbers with the Number wrapper
23 - Type cast Booleans using double negation
24 - Rely on implicit Boolean values in conditionals
25 - Challenge - Type cast
26 - Solution - Type cast

5. Comparing Values

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

Conclusion

34 - Next steps

JavaScript: Best Practices for Data

Authors

Sasha Vodnik