JavaScript, Theory

JavaScript. Variables. Primitive data types. Comments. Constants

Variables. Primitive data types. Comments. Constants. The keywords var, const. Operator typeof

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1. Variables and data types. General concepts

Any JavaScript application works with data. The data is stored in variables that are declared and used in the application. In other words, a variable is a memory cell that stores data.

Any variable in JavaScript is defined by the following characteristics:

  • the variable has a name. By this name, you can access the data stored in the variable. There are certain requirements for variable names (see below);
  • the variable has a specific data type.

The data type of the variable determines:

  • a way of representing (encoding) data in memory. Variables of different types are encoded differently;
  • the size of the memory in bytes that the variable occupies. For example, string and numeric types take up different amounts of memory in a program.

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2. Variable declaration. Keyword var. Basic (primitive) data types

The var keyword is used when declaring a variable. A variable declaration can be:

  • with initial initialization. The term “initialization” means that a variable is assigned its original value using an assignment operation;
  • without initial initialization. In this case, nothing is assigned to the variable. Such a variable is set to type undefined by default.

According to the two ways of declaring a variable, the following two general forms are distinguished.

If, when declaring a variable, it needs to be initialized, the following general form is used

var variableName = value;

here

  • variableName – the name of the variable being declared;
  • value – the value that the variable receives when it is declared. The type of this variable will be determined based on the value. If value is a string, the variable will be of type String, if value is a number, then the variable will be of type Number, etc.

After initialization, variables can receive values of the following basic (primitive, simple) data types:

  • Number is a data type describing numbers. There is no strict separation between integers and floating point numbers as in other programming languages;
  • String is a data type describing text data. JavaScript does not have a separate data type for a single character (there is no char type);
  • Boolean – boolean data type. Variables of this type receive only two possible values: true or false;
  • Null – a type that can take only one null value;
  • Undefined – the type set when the variable is declared (var) but not initialized with a value. The value of the variable will be assigned later;
  • Bigint – a type designed to represent large integers whose values go far beyond the value of the Number type;
  • Symbol – defines a unique immutable primitive value (atom).

There are also object types that describe objects, functions, arrays, errors, regular expressions, date and other program elements. These types are not the subject of this topic.

If a variable is declared without initial initialization, then the general form of the declaration is as follows:

var variableName;

here

  • variableName is the name of the variable being declared. This variable is set to type undefined, which means an undefined data type.

Direct assignment of undefined value for a variable is allowed

var variableName = undefined;

In an application, variable declarations can be on the same line. However, these declarations are separated by a comma.

var varName1, varName2, varName3;

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3. Variable name requirements

JavaSctipt has the following requirements for variable names or other program identifiers:

  • variable (identifier) name can contain uppercase (‘A’ … ‘Z’) and lowercase (‘a’ … ‘z’) letters, digits ‘0’ … ‘9’ and underscore character ‘_’;
  • a variable name cannot start with a digit;
  • the variable name can contain the ‘$’ symbol.

JavaScript is case sensitive. This means that the names

abc
Abc
aBC
ABC

are different names.

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4. Examples of declaring variables of different types

Valid variable declarations

// Variable declarations of different typesvar x = 2.88;   
// Number type
var MAX_VALUE = 1000; // Number type
var b = false; // Boolean type
var z;         // z = Undefined (Undefined type)
var Arr = null; // Object type

// Declaring multiple String variables in one line
var Text = "Hello, world!", Url = "www.bestprog.net"; 

// Declaring multiple variables of type Number on one line
var $Pi = 3.1415, G = 9.806, $E = 2.718; 

// Declaring variables of Bigint type
var Nm = 9007199254740992n;
var Nm2 = 20n;

// Symbol type
var sm = Symbol("abc")  

Incorrect variable declarations

// Incorrect variable declarations
var 1f = 25; // the name begins with a number
var f 3 = 28; // space character between f and 3

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5. Using variables in the program. What does the term “not strongly typed language” mean? Example

JavaScript is not strongly typed, unlike languages such as C++, Java, C#, and others. This means that a variable declared in a program can receive (store) data of different types. In C++, Java, C# and others, when declared, a variable has a well-defined type (only one) and retains it until the end of the scope of this variable.

In JavaScript, a variable can be of one type when declared. Then, during the execution of the program, the variable can get a different type when performing the assignment operation =. The process of obtaining a variable of values of different types can be repeated any number of times.

Example.

'use strict'

// 1. Declaring variable a
var a; // The variable type is undefined

// 2. The variable a is assigned a number (integer)
a = 110; // The variable type is number

// 3. The variable a is assigned a real number
a = 2.55; // The number type

// 4. The variable a is assigned a string
a = "abcd"; // The string type

// 5. Variable a is set to null
a = null; // The object type

// 6. The variable a is assigned the boolean type
a = true;

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6. The typeof operator. Get the type of a variable

Using the typeof operator, you can get the name of the type that is set for a variable. The general form of calling the typeof operator is as follows

typeof(value)

here

  • value – some variable, literal or expression.

Example. The example defines the types of variables, literals, and expressions using the typeof operator.

// The typeof operator
var a = 20;
var tp_a = typeof(a); // tp_a is of type number

var str = 'Hello';
var tp_str = typeof(str); // the String type

var tp_expr = typeof(5 + true + 2.8) // the Number type
alert(tp_expr)

tp_expr = typeof('A' + 8) // String type
alert(tp_expr)

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7. Comments in JavaScript

In any application, it is advisable to add explanations to code fragments in the form of comments. The use of comments makes it easier to understand the components of the program and their further maintenance. Comments are not interpreted by the compiler or interpreter as code to be processed. Comments are simply ignored.

There are two types of comments in JavaScript:

  • one-line – placed behind a pair of characters //;
  • multi-line – placed between the pairs of characters /* and */.

Example.

// This is a one-line comment.
// var a = 20; - this is also a comment

var a = 20; // the declaration of the variable a is a comment

/* This is  
   a multi-line
   comment
*/

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8. JavaScript reserved words

Not all names can be specified as variables, functions, methods, loop labels, or objects. These names are used in JavaScript and are reserved. Below is a list of these names in alphabetical order

abstract   else         instanceof     switch
boolean    enum         int            synchronized
break      export       interface      this
byte       extends      long           throw
case       false        native         throws
catch      final        new            transient
char       finally      null           true
class      float        package        try
const      for          private        typeof
continue   function     protected      var
debugger   goto         public         void
default    if           return         volatile
delete     implements   short          while
do         import       static         with
double     in           super

If you try to use one of the above names in the program, it will be considered as error.

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9. Declaring constants. The const keyword

You can declare constants in JavaScript. The const keyword is used for this. The general form of declaring a constant is as follows

const constName = value;

here

  • constName – the name of constant;
  • value – the value returned by the constant.

After declaring a constant constName, an attempt is made to change the value of the constant

constName = anyValue;

will be considered an error. It is forbidden to change any constant before the end of the script.

The names for the formation of constants are the same as for variables (see paragraph 5).

Example.

// Constants. Declaration and use of constants
const Pi = 3.1415;            // constant type Number
const Yes = true, No = false; // Boolean
const Numbers = "0123456789"; // String
const N_Months = 12;          // Number
const MaxYearsOfUniverse = 123456789012345678901234567890n // Bigint

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Related topics

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