A mostly reasonable approach to JavaScript
Note: this guide assumes you are using Babel, and requires that you use babel-preset-airbnb or the equivalent. It also assumes you are installing shims/polyfills in your app, with airbnb-browser-shims or the equivalent.
This guide is available in other languages too. See Translation
Other Style Guides
- 1.1 Primitives: When you access a primitive type you work directly on its value.
- `string`
- `number`
- `boolean`
- `null`
- `undefined`
- `symbol`
- `bigint`
```javascript
const foo = 1;
let bar = foo;
bar = 9;
console.log(foo, bar); // => 1, 9
```
- Symbols and BigInts cannot be faithfully polyfilled, so they should not be used when targeting browsers/environments that don’t support them natively.
- 1.2 Complex: When you access a complex type you work on a reference to its value.
- `object`
- `array`
- `function`
```javascript
const foo = [1, 2];
const bar = foo;
bar[0] = 9;
console.log(foo[0], bar[0]); // => 9, 9
```
- 2.1 Use const for all of your references; avoid using var. eslint: prefer-const, no-const-assign
> Why? This ensures that you can’t reassign your references, which can lead to bugs and difficult to comprehend code.
```javascript
// bad
var a = 1;
var b = 2;
// good
const a = 1;
const b = 2;
```
- 2.2 If you must reassign references, use let instead of var. eslint: no-var
> Why? `let` is block-scoped rather than function-scoped like `var`.
```javascript
// bad
var count = 1;
if (true) {
count += 1;
}
// good, use the let.
let count = 1;
if (true) {
count += 1;
}
```
- 2.3 Note that both let and const are block-scoped, whereas var is function-scoped.
```javascript
// const and let only exist in the blocks they are defined in.
{
let a = 1;
const b = 1;
var c = 1;
}
console.log(a); // ReferenceError
console.log(b); // ReferenceError
console.log(c); // Prints 1
```
In the above code, you can see that referencing `a` and `b` will produce a ReferenceError, while `c` contains the number. This is because `a` and `b` are block scoped, while `c` is scoped to the containing function.
- 3.1 Use the literal syntax for object creation. eslint: no-new-object
```javascript
// bad
const item = new Object();
// good
const item = {};
```
- 3.2 Use computed property names when creating objects with dynamic property names.
> Why? They allow you to define all the properties of an object in one place.
```javascript
function getKey(k) {
return `a key named ${k}`;
}
// bad
const obj = {
id: 5,
name: 'San Francisco',
};
obj[getKey('enabled')] = true;
// good
const obj = {
id: 5,
name: 'San Francisco',
[getKey('enabled')]: true,
};
```
- 3.3 Use object method shorthand. eslint: object-shorthand
```javascript
// bad
const atom = {
value: 1,
addValue: function (value) {
return atom.value + value;
},
};
// good
const atom = {
value: 1,
addValue(value) {
return atom.value + value;
},
};
```
- 3.4 Use property value shorthand. eslint: object-shorthand
> Why? It is shorter and descriptive.
```javascript
const lukeSkywalker = 'Luke Skywalker';
// bad
const obj = {
lukeSkywalker: lukeSkywalker,
};
// good
const obj = {
lukeSkywalker,
};
```
- 3.5 Group your shorthand properties at the beginning of your object declaration.
> Why? It’s easier to tell which properties are using the shorthand.
```javascript
const anakinSkywalker = 'Anakin Skywalker';
const lukeSkywalker = 'Luke Skywalker';
// bad
const obj = {
episodeOne: 1,
twoJediWalkIntoACantina: 2,
lukeSkywalker,
episodeThree: 3,
mayTheFourth: 4,
anakinSkywalker,
};
// good
const obj = {
lukeSkywalker,
anakinSkywalker,
episodeOne: 1,
twoJediWalkIntoACantina: 2,
episodeThree: 3,
mayTheFourth: 4,
};
```
- 3.6 Only quote properties that are invalid identifiers. eslint: quote-props
> Why? In general we consider it subjectively easier to read. It improves syntax highlighting, and is also more easily optimized by many JS engines.
```javascript
// bad
const bad = {
'foo': 3,
'bar': 4,
'data-blah': 5,
};
// good
const good = {
foo: 3,
bar: 4,
'data-blah': 5,
};
```
- 3.7 Do not call Object.prototype methods directly, such as hasOwnProperty, propertyIsEnumerable, and isPrototypeOf. eslint: no-prototype-builtins
> Why? These methods may be shadowed by properties on the object in question - consider `{ hasOwnProperty: false }` - or, the object may be a null object (`Object.create(null)`).
```javascript
// bad
console.log(object.hasOwnProperty(key));
// good
console.log(Object.prototype.hasOwnProperty.call(object, key));
// best
const has = Object.prototype.hasOwnProperty; // cache the lookup once, in module scope.
console.log(has.call(object, key));
/* or */
import has from 'has'; // https://www.npmjs.com/package/has
console.log(has(object, key));
```
- 3.8 Prefer the object spread syntax over Object.assign to shallow-copy objects. Use the object rest parameter syntax to get a new object with certain properties omitted. eslint: prefer-object-spread
```javascript
// very bad
const original = { a: 1, b: 2 };
const copy = Object.assign(original, { c: 3 }); // this mutates `original` ಠ_ಠ
delete copy.a; // so does this
// bad
const original = { a: 1, b: 2 };
const copy = Object.assign({}, original, { c: 3 }); // copy => { a: 1, b: 2, c: 3 }
// good
const original = { a: 1, b: 2 };
const copy = { ...original, c: 3 }; // copy => { a: 1, b: 2, c: 3 }
const { a, ...noA } = copy; // noA => { b: 2, c: 3 }
```
- 4.1 Use the literal syntax for array creation. eslint: no-array-constructor
```javascript
// bad
const items = new Array();
// good
const items = [];
```
- 4.2 Use Array#push instead of direct assignment to add items to an array.
```javascript
const someStack = [];
// bad
someStack[someStack.length] = 'abracadabra';
// good
someStack.push('abracadabra');
```
- 4.3 Use array spreads ... to copy arrays.
```javascript
// bad
const len = items.length;
const itemsCopy = [];
let i;
for (i = 0; i < len; i += 1) {
itemsCopy[i] = items[i];
}
// good
const itemsCopy = [...items];
```
- 4.4 To convert an iterable object to an array, use spreads ... instead of Array.from.
```javascript
const foo = document.querySelectorAll('.foo');
// good
const nodes = Array.from(foo);
// best
const nodes = [...foo];
```
- 4.5 Use Array.from for converting an array-like object to an array.
```javascript
const arrLike = { 0: 'foo', 1: 'bar', 2: 'baz', length: 3 };
// bad
const arr = Array.prototype.slice.call(arrLike);
// good
const arr = Array.from(arrLike);
```
- 4.6 Use Array.from instead of spread ... for mapping over iterables, because it avoids creating an intermediate array.
```javascript
// bad
const baz = [...foo].map(bar);
// good
const baz = Array.from(foo, bar);
```
- 4.7 Use return statements in array method callbacks. It’s ok to omit the return if the function body consists of a single statement returning an expression without side effects, following 8.2. eslint: array-callback-return
```javascript
// good
[1, 2, 3].map((x) => {
const y = x + 1;
return x * y;
});
// good
[1, 2, 3].map((x) => x + 1);
// bad - no returned value means `acc` becomes undefined after the first iteration
[[0, 1], [2, 3], [4, 5]].reduce((acc, item, index) => {
const flatten = acc.concat(item);
});
// good
[[0, 1], [2, 3], [4, 5]].reduce((acc, item, index) => {
const flatten = acc.concat(item);
return flatten;
});
// bad
inbox.filter((msg) => {
const { subject, author } = msg;
if (subject === 'Mockingbird') {
return author === 'Harper Lee';
} else {
return false;
}
});
// good
inbox.filter((msg) => {
const { subject, author } = msg;
if (subject === 'Mockingbird') {
return author === 'Harper Lee';
}
return
$ claude mcp add javascript \
-- python -m otcore.mcp_server <graph>