Forem: Vasso Vass

DevJournal 2: JavaScript Tutorial Section Complete...Finally🎉

Vasso Vass — Thu, 21 Jul 2022 23:19:00 +0000

I have finally finished the 2nd section of
The Complete JavaScript Course 2022: From Zero to Expert!. I write about what I have covered since I started my journey in learning JavaScript.

Although I am a full-time SEO, I am trying to learn JavaScript as proficiently as someone would need to be working as a coder.

What I cover in this post:

What I learnt in the course
General learning/practice for coding
What other coding related stuff am I exposing myself to
Screenshots of my YouTube viewing in last few days

What I learnt in the course and that that I retain fairly well:

(I am more focused on trying to remember the concepts vs syntax)

variables and values - Let, Const and Var. Declaring Vars
Data types
- primitive: string, number, boolean, undefined, null, Big int, symbol
- Object: analogy is that this is a person with various properties let me = {name: "Vasso"};
basic operators:
- Mathematical - +,-,,/, *
- Logical: OR ||, AND &&, NOT!
- comparison and equality operators: <,>,=,<=,>=,==,===, !
template literals
decisions:
- if/else, else/if,
- switch statement (I f-ing forgot the name here when trying to remember...),
- conditional (tenary) statements (Here is a previous post I did on trying to figure out when to use each type of conditional)
type conversion and coercion
Truthy and Falsy statements - I was a bit unsure on the value of this but sort of get it that this can be an issue when using boolean logic. It was interesting to see that NaN !== NaN
Boolean logic
statements and expressions - interesting that expressions can be used in template literals whereas statements cannot
some history of JavaScript

What am I learning/practicing that is related to general coding while doing the course:

Trying to increase my typing rate and accuracy thereof with keybr.com as well as using this to help get me in a focused state
Learning to use VSCode - I have multiple times distracted myself to the Nth degree on looking for worthwhile extensions (currently on 23) Screenshot 1 of my extensions Screenshot 2 of my extensions

When not actively going through the course (IE when I am not sitting in front of a computer to go through new tutorials in the course), some extra learning I am doing:

listening to quite a few podcasts and YouTube videos on Vanilla Javascript and self-taught developers - see YouTube history screenshots below
trying to remember syntax and structure thereof
constantly getting distracted with YouTube and just about anything else to keep me away from learning (my brain often hates me)

Screenshots of my YouTube viewing in last few days

21 July 2022 Thursday

Wednesday

Monday and Tuesday

Trying to work out when to use if-else, switch or conditional (tenary) operator - The importance of MDN

Vasso Vass — Tue, 19 Jul 2022 23:31:25 +0000

This is a post where I document as I learn type of thing. So if anything doesn't make sense or is wrong, let me know in the comments. Assumption is that you know that these options exist for writing conditionals.

I have just learnt switch statements and the conditional (tenary) operator which is variations on the if-else conditional statement.

So far my understanding is that the:

Switch statement is used as a cleaner way for comparing 1 value to multiple options

const birthYear = 2005;
const birthYear2 = birthYear < 2000
switch (birthYear2) {
    case (birthYear2 < 2000):
        century = 20;
        postLetters = "th";
        console.log(`${century}${postLetters} century`);
        break;
    case birthYear2 > 2000:
        century = 21;
        postLetters = 'st';
        console.log(`${century}${postLetters} century`);
        break;
    default:
        console.log(`cusp of ${century}${postLetters} century`);
        break;

}

Conditional (tenary) operator is a simpler /more readable way of conditionally declaring variables

age = 25;

age >= 18 ? console.log('He is of legal limt') : console.log('He is not of legal limt');

If-else can be used for all of the above, just not as neat and readable example code:

const birthYear = 2995;
let century;
let postLetters;
if (birthYear < 2000) {
    century = 20;
    postLetters = "th";
} else {
    century = 21;
    postLetters = "st";
}
console.log(`${century}${postLetters} century`);

My issue is that I don't quite understand exactly when and were it should apply specifically, or at least have a rough idea. So I Googled this and it led to "Switch-Case or If-Else: Which One to Pick?" which doesn't address the conditional (tenary) operator.

Some notes from this:

The switch statement is a multiple-choice selection statement.
If there are several matching cases to a case value in Javascript switch multiple cases, the first one is selected. (Taken from the comparison chart)
Switch statements are ideal for fixed data values.
if-else conditional branches are great for variable conditions that result into Boolean.
if-else: Having different conditions is possible.
Switch: We can only have one expression.
Switch: Sequence of execution - executes one case after another till a break statement appears or until the end of the switch statement is reached.
if-else: Sequence of execution - if-statement will be executed, or else-statement is executed.
you should use switch statements for making decisions based on single integers enumerated value, or a string object.

You can use if-else when:
The condition result is a boolean.
The conditions are complex. For example, you have conditions with multiple logical operators.

You can use a switch-case when:
There are multiple choices for an expression.
The condition is based on a predefined set of values such as enums, constants, known types. For example, error codes, statuses, states, object types, etc.
From: "Switch-Case or If-Else: Which One to Pick?"

My Takeaway from the above:

one condition in Switch versus multiple in if-else
if you can use switch statement instead of if-else, then do it.

I then checked the references used for "Switch-Case or If-Else: Which One to Pick?" and it led me to conditionals of MDN

if-else: mainly good for cases where you've got a couple of choices, and each one requires a reasonable amount of code to be run, and/or the conditions are complex (for example, multiple logical operators).
switch: where you just want to set a variable to a certain choice of value or print out a particular statement depending on a condition
Summary of Switch statement: they take a single expression/value as an input, and then look through a number of choices until they find one that matches that value, executing the corresponding code that goes along with it.
Summary: The ternary or conditional operator is a small bit of syntax that tests a condition and returns one value/expression if it is true, and another if it is false — this can be useful in some situations, and can take up a lot less code than an if...else block if you have two choices that are chosen between via a true/false condition. ternary operator is not just for setting variable values; you can also run functions, or lines of code — anything you like

Basically, I should have gone to the MDN docs from the get go. It has examples, explanations and all that jazz🎶

DevJournal 1: Starting My Coding Journey (First with JavaScript)

Vasso Vass — Sun, 17 Jul 2022 20:53:00 +0000

What I am Doing & Focus

I have started learning JavaScript end of June and doing the "The Complete JavaScript Course 2022: From Zero to Expert!".

My main focus will be learning JavaScript so will just post what I can that doesn't impact too much on my learning

A little about me

I gave an intro in the Welcome Thread
I am a Digital Marketer with a Search Engine Optimization focus and just starting to learn programming seriously (JavaScript to start) for the first time. I have done tutorial hell a few years ago with HTML and CSS, but then didn't go further. I don't want the same thing to happen, but going through the grind of learning the fundamentals.

What I will be trying to consistently post:

Pics of my written notes that I take (Yes I am taking handwritten notes to help me with my process of learning)
Possibly the GitHub exercises I do (not sure if I am allowed as these are the Course Creators exercise files).
Maybe some quick comments in Dev.to posts!

Here are my notes so far:

(this includes coffee stains and my 2 year old's art masterpieces - and some are upside down that I will fix later.)