5 Things Beginners Must Know About JavaScript

There are plenty of online resources to help learn and understand JavaScript, such as online javascript beautifier Prettify Javascript. Beginners can practice creating nicely formatted and legible JavaScript while learning the essential terms and functions of the program.

Var, or variables, are how data is stored in memory. It is the most common way to create a variable in JavaScript and allows data to be tracked in an application. Variables are nouns that define the things that are worked into code.

If variables are nouns, then functions are verbs that take action. When coders are building an application they create custom actions with functions. JavaScript comes with an extensive library of functions, but a strong coder knows how to customize these functions.

Within JavaScript are conditional statements in the if-then format that lets an application choose between one or more actions depending on if a certain condition is true. A conditional statement is the primary tool in programming to make logical decisions and is the heart of any application.

Loops allow for the same action(s) to be performed multiple times in a row. Think of the data sets in code like a deck of cards. Every set of data needs to be dealt out and assigned an action to perform. Looping allows this assignment to be repeated with selected data.

JavaScript uses objects as the basic structure of data. Every object has properties, or keys, which are given values. The values can be numbers, strings, arrays, functions, or other objects. Objects usually model something in the real world and allow coders to build complex but easy to use data structures.

Learning the intricacies of JavaScript comes with time. The key to mastering JavaScript is practicing how to use these 5 basic functions and understanding how they work with confidence.