All about ES6 (Part 1)

Introduction

JavaScript ES6 (also known as ECMAScript 2015 or ECMAScript 6) is the newer version of JavaScript that was introduced in 2015.

ECMAScript is a standard that provides the specification on how JavaScript programming language should work.

The topics we will cover in this article are :

Setup for JS and Hello World
Variables in JS
Template literals
let vs var vs const
Datatypes(table)

About each datatype

Setup for JS:

Open VS code and create one HTML and one javascript file:

Install Live Server extension in vs code:

In index.html add a script tag that will link with 1.js:

 <!DOCTYPE html>
 <html lang="en">
   <head>
     <meta charset="UTF-8" />
     <meta http-equiv="X-UA-Compatible" content="IE=edge" />
     <meta name="viewport" content="width=device-width, initial-scale=1.0" />
     <title>Document</title>
   </head>
   <body>
      //script tag added here 
     <script src="./1.js"></script> 
   </body>
 </html>

In 1.js write this :

 console.log("Hello World");

Right click on VS code and open live server:

If you are in Mac use command : Cmd + Option + C . Then open the console tab

If you are in Windows or Linux user : use the shortcut ctrl+shift+j and then reload the page.

You will get the following output:

However, we can write Hello World in 3 different ways :

//using double quotes:
console.log("hello world");
//using single quotes:
console.log('hello world');
//using backticks
console.log(`hello world`);

Variables in JS

Variables are containers that can store some information

We can reuse that information later and change the information if required

// declare a variable 
var firstName = "Amit";
// use a variable 
console.log(firstName);
// change value 
firstName = "Dinesh";
console.log(firstName)

Rules for naming variables in JS :

// rules for naming variables
// you cannot start with number 
// example :- 
// 1value (invalid)
// value1 (valid)
var value1 = 2;
console.log(value1);


// you can use only undersore _ or dollar symbol
// first_name (valid)
// _firstname (valid)


// first$name (valid)
// $firstname (valid)


// you cannot use spaces
// var first_name = "amit"; // snake case writing
// var firstName = "amit"; // camel case writing
// first name (invalid) // invalid as it contains spaces


// convention
// start with small letter and use camelCase

Template Literals

They are just string literals allowing embedded expressions denoted by the dollar sign and curly braces ${expression}. These literals are enclosed by the backtick character instead of double or single quotes.

let str = "World";
let message = `Hello ${str}`;

console.log(message); // Hello World

let vs var

The var variables belong to the global scope when you define them outside a function.

When you declare a variable inside a function using the var keyword, the scope of the variable is local. For example:

function increase() {
    var count = 10;
}
console.log(count); //Output-> ReferenceError: count is not defined

Here, the 'count' variable is local to the increase() function. It cannot be accessible outside of the function.

Let us take another example where we use var in a for loop:

for (var i = 0; i < 3; i++) {
  console.log("Inside the loop:", i);
}
console.log("Outside the loop:", i) 
//Output: 
Inside the loop: 0 
Inside the loop: 1 
Inside the loop: 2 
Outside the loop: 3

Here, the variable 'i' is a global variable. Therefore, it can be accessed from both inside and after the for loop.

But if we use let inside the for loop :

for (let i = 0; i < 3; i++) {
  console.log("Inside the loop:", i);
}
console.log("Outside the loop:", i);
//Output: 
Inside the loop: 0 
Inside the loop: 1 
Inside the loop: 2 
Uncaught ReferenceError: i is not defined

As soon as we use let inside the for loop the variable 'i' becomes block scoped(i.e. it can be only used within the for loop).

Hence we can say that let is block scoped whereas var is function scoped

Let us take another example:

let firstName ="Amit";
let firstName ="Rohit";
console.log(firstName);
//Output
Uncaught SyntaxError: Identifier 'firstName' has already been declared

var firstName="Amit";
var firstName="Rohit";
console.log(firstName);
//Output
Rohit

It indicates that we cannot declare the same variable more than once using let within the same scope whereas the var keyword allows for redeclaration within the same scope.

const

ES6 provides a new way of declaring a constant by using the const keyword.

Once a variable is assigned using const, its value cannot be reassigned or modified. It creates a read-only reference to a value. Any attempt to reassign a new value to a const variable will result in an error.

For example:

// declaring constant 
const pi = 3.14;
pi=22
console.log(pi);
//Output
Uncaught TypeError: Assignment to constant variable.

Like the let keyword, the const keyword declares block-scoped variables.

For Example:

function example() {
  if (true) {
    const x = 10;
    console.log(x); // Output: 10
  }
  console.log(x); // Error: x is not defined
}
example();

Datatypes in JS:

String

String is used to store text. In JavaScript, strings are surrounded by quotes:

Single quotes: 'Hello'
Double quotes: "Hello"

Backticks: `Hello`

  // Strings
  const firstName = "Amit";
  const lastName = "Patnaik";
  const result = `Name: ${firstName} ${lastName}`;

  console.log(result); // Name: Amit Patnaik

Number

Number represents integer and floating numbers (decimals and exponentials).

 const num1 = 5;  //integer
 const num2 = 3.433; //decimal
 const num3 = 3e5; // exponent -->   3 * 10^5

A number type can also be +Infinity, -Infinity, and NaN (not a number).

 const num4 = 3 / 0;
 console.log(num4); // +Infinity

 const num5 = -3 / 0;
 console.log(num5); // -Infinity

 // strings can't be divided by numbers
 const num6 = "abc" / 3;
 console.log(num6); // NaN

BigInt
Maximum no. that can be stored in JS is: Number.MAX_SAFE_INTEGER (2⁵³ - 1)

Any integer greater than Number.MAX_SAFE_INTEGER may not be accurately represented, and there is a risk of losing precision or encountering unexpected behavior when performing calculations or comparisons with such large numbers.

To store numbers greater than this we use BigInt.

BigInt can be created in two ways : Using BigInt() function or by appending n to the end of an integer.

For example:

 let a=BigInt(78356783663636783638637863) // Using the BigInt function
 let b =78356783663636783638637863n //Appending n at the end of integer
 console.log(a);
 console.log(b);
 //Output:
 78356783663636778873520128n
 78356783663636783638637863n

Also mixing BigInt with other types will result in a TypeError.

For example:

 let a=BigInt(78356783663636783638637863); 
 let b =2n;
 console.log(a+b); //Adding 2 Big integers
 //Output
 78356783663636778873520130n  //no error

 let a=BigInt(78356783663636783638637863);
 let b =2;
 console.log(a+b); //Adding a Bigint and non Bigint number
 //Output
 Uncaught TypeError: Cannot mix BigInt and other types, use explicit conversions

Boolean
This data type represents logical entities. Boolean represents one of two values: true or false.

 const loggedIn = true;
 const isAdmin = false;

 console.log(loggedIn); // Output: true
 console.log(isAdmin); // Output: false

undefined

If a variable is declared but the value is not assigned, then the value of that variable will be undefined.
```
 let x;
 console.log(x); // undefined
```
However, we can assign undefined to a variable
```
 let y = undefined; //assigning undefined to a variable
 console.log(y); // undefined
```
null

In JavaScript, null is a special value that represents empty or unknown value.

Null means "No value at all" or "nothing" or "value unknown".

Null is assigned to a variable as a representation of no value.

Also typeof null is object
```
 const number = null;
 console.log(number); //null
```
Remember: By default JS never seta a value to null. Always it is done programmatically

Symbol

A value having the data type Symbol can be referred to as a symbol value. Symbol is an immutable primitive value that is unique.

 // Two symbols with the same description

 const value1 = Symbol('hello');
 const value2 = Symbol('hello');

 let result = (value1 === value2) ? true : false;  // false;

 // Note: Though value1 and value2 both contain 'hello', they are different as they are of the Symbol type.

Object

In JavaScript, the fundamental way that we group and pass around data is through objects.
```
 const employee = {
     firstName: 'Amit',
     lastName: 'Patnaik',
     email: 'amitpatnaik4518@gmail.com'
 };
```
- The employee variable is assigned an object using object literal notation {}.
- The object has three properties: firstName, lastName, and email.
  
  We will have a deep dive into Objects in upcoming blogs .

All about ES6 (Part 1)

Javascript for Web Developers

Table of contents

Introduction

Setup for JS:

Variables in JS

Template Literals

let vs var

const

Datatypes in JS: