Microsoft | Development for beginners (Episode 25)
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JavaScript Basics: Making Decisions
Sketchnote by Tomomi Imura
Pre-Lecture Quiz
Making decisions and controlling the order in which your code runs makes your code reusable and robust. This section covers the syntax for controlling data flow in JavaScript and its significance when used with Boolean data types
🎥 Click the image above for a video about making decisions.
You can take this lesson on Microsoft Learn!
A Brief Recap on Booleans
Booleans can be only two values: true
or false
. Booleans help make decisions on which lines of code should run when certain conditions are met.
Set your boolean to be true or false like this:
let myTrueBool = true
let myFalseBool = false
✅ Booleans are named after the English mathematician, philosopher and logician George Boole (1815–1864).
Comparison Operators and Booleans
Operators are used to evaluate conditions by making comparisons that will create a Boolean value. The following is a list of operators that are frequently used.
Symbol | Description | Example |
---|---|---|
< | Less than: Compares two values and returns the true Boolean data type if the value on the left side is less than the right | 5 < 6 // true |
<= | Less than or equal to: Compares two values and returns the true Boolean data type if the value on the left side is less than or equal to the right | 5 <= 6 // true |
> | Greater than: Compares two values and returns the true Boolean data type if the value on the left side is larger than the right | 5 > 6 // false |
>= | Greater than or equal to: Compares two values and returns the true Boolean data type if the value on the left side is larger than or equal to the right | 5 >= 6 // false |
=== | Strict equality: Compares two values and returns the true Boolean data type if values on the right and left are equal AND are the same data type. | 5 === 6 // false |
!== | Inequality: Compares two values and returns the opposite Boolean value of what a strict equality operator would return | 5 !== 6 // true |
✅ Check your knowledge by writing some comparisons in your browser’s console. Does any returned data surprise you?
If Statement
The if statement will run code in between its blocks if the condition is true.
if (condition) {
//Condition is true. Code in this block will run.
}
Logical operators are often used to form the condition.
let currentMoney;
let laptopPrice;
if (currentMoney >= laptopPrice) {
//Condition is true. Code in this block will run.
console.log("Getting a new laptop!");
}
If…Else Statement
The else
statement will run the code in between its blocks when the condition is false. It’s optional with an if
statement.
let currentMoney;
let laptopPrice;
if (currentMoney >= laptopPrice) {
//Condition is true. Code in this block will run.
console.log("Getting a new laptop!");
} else {
//Condition is false. Code in this block will run.
console.log("Can't afford a new laptop, yet!");
}
✅ Test your understanding of this code and the following code by running it in a browser console. Change the values of the currentMoney and laptopPrice variables to change the returned console.log()
.
Switch Statement
The switch
statement is used to perform different actions based on different conditions. Use the switch
statement to select one of many code blocks to be executed.
switch (expression) {
case x:
// code block
break;
case y:
// code block
break;
default:
// code block
}
// program using switch statement
let a = 2;
switch (a) {
case 1:
a = "one";
break;
case 2:
a = "two";
break;
default:
a = "not found";
break;
}
console.log(`The value is ${a}`);
✅ Test your understanding of this code and the following code by running it in a browser console. Change the values of the varaiable a to change the returned console.log()
.
Logical Operators and Booleans
Decisions might require more than one comparison, and can be strung together with logical operators to produce a Boolean value.
Symbol | Description | Example |
---|---|---|
&& | Logical AND: Compares two Boolean expressions. Returns true only if both sides are true | (5 > 6) && (5 < 6 ) //One side is false, other is true. Returns false |
|| | Logical OR: Compares two Boolean expressions. Returns true if at least one side is true | (5 > 6) || (5 < 6) //One side is false, other is true. Returns true |
! | Logical NOT: Returns the opposite value of a Boolean expression | !(5 > 6) // 5 is not greater than 6, but "!" will return true |
Conditions and Decisions with Logical Operators
Logical operators can be used to form conditions in if…else statements.
let currentMoney;
let laptopPrice;
let laptopDiscountPrice = laptopPrice - laptopPrice * 0.2; //Laptop price at 20 percent off
if (currentMoney >= laptopPrice || currentMoney >= laptopDiscountPrice) {
//Condition is true. Code in this block will run.
console.log("Getting a new laptop!");
} else {
//Condition is true. Code in this block will run.
console.log("Can't afford a new laptop, yet!");
}
Negation operator
You’ve seen so far how if you can use an if…else
statement to create conditional logic. Anything that goes into an if
needs to evaluate to true/false. By using the !
operator you can negate the expression. It would look like so:
if (!condition) {
// runs if condition is false
} else {
// runs if condition is true
}
Ternary expressions
if…else
isn’t the only way to express decision logic. You can also use something called a ternary operator. The syntax for it looks like this:
let variable = condition ? <return this if true> : <return this if false>
Below is a more tangible example:
let firstNumber = 20;
let secondNumber = 10;
let biggestNumber = firstNumber > secondNumber ? firstNumber : secondNumber;
✅ Take a minute to read this code a few times. Do you understand how these operators are working?
The above states that
- if
firstNumber
is larger thansecondNumber
- then assign
firstNumber
tobiggestNumber
- else assign
secondNumber
.
The ternary expression is just a compact way of writing the code below:
let biggestNumber;
if (firstNumber > secondNumber) {
biggestNumber = firstNumber;
} else {
biggestNumber = secondNumber;
}
🚀 Challenge
Create a program that is written first with logical operators, and then rewrite it using a ternary expression. What’s your preferred syntax?
Post-Lecture Quiz
Review & Self Study
Read more about the many operators available to the user on MDN.
Go through Josh Comeau’s wonderful operator lookup!