SH1804

JavaScript Basic Concepts

I. Variables
 These are containers or placeholders for holding and storing data values.
 They serve as identifiers for the values they hold.
 Their values can change throughout an application’s runtime.
 Use the var keyword for its declaration.

A. The Assignment Operator

 A programming operator used to assign data, specifically values, to a declared variable.
 Uses the equality operator or equal sign (=) for its declaration.
 JS changes the operator’s purpose from determining equality of two (2) values to
assignment of values.

B. Using Variables
 Variables can be used across any location in a script.
 Any changes to a variable (such as its value) will be reflected to any location in the
script that uses the variable.

C. Naming Variables
 Variables follow certain rules and conventions for their naming:
o The first character MUST BE a letter, an underscore (_), or a dollar sign ($).
Subsequent characters may be letters, digits, underscores, or dollar signs.
o Numbers are NOT allowed as the first character for the identifier’s name.
o Variable names CANNOT include a mathematical or logical operator in the name
(for example, 2*something or this+that;).
o Variable names MUST NOT contain spaces.
o Hyphens are NOT allowed to be used in JS variables; the hyphen symbol (-) is
reserved as the subtraction operator.
o Variables MUST NOT have special symbols, such as the pound sign (#), the
percent symbol (%), etc.
o Variables MUST NOT use any reserved words as they have uses in other aspects
of JS programming.

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II. Data Types

 Refers to types of values with which a program can work with.
 Allows variables to hold different types of values in JS, such as numbers, strings, arrays,
and more.

A. Defining Numerical Variables

 JS does not need to use specified keywords to denote a variable holding numerical
values.
 JS numerical values can therefore hold any numerical data type such as integers, short,
long, floating-point, etc.

B. Defining String Variables

 Allows JS scripts to use alphanumeric values, more specifically text.
 Variables containing strings are usually declared with quotes.
 Developers can use single quotes (‘’) or double quotes (“”).
 The backslash character (\) can be used for other special characters in order to turn
them into string characters.

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C. Defining Boolean Variables

 Boolean variables will only return one (1) of two (2) values: true or false.
 These are useful when you need a data type that can only have one of two values, such
as Yes/No, On/Off, True/False, etc.
 This type of variable is defined normally, without quotations, similar to numerical
values.

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III. Math Operators

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 These are symbols used to perform arithmetic functions on numerical values, such as those
on variables and literals.
o The addition operator is denoted by the plus sign (+). It is used to add two (2) or more
operands and return the resulting value.
o The subtraction operator is denoted by the hyphen (-). It is primarily used to subtract
the value of the second operand from the first operand.
o The multiplication operator is denoted by the asterisk (*). It is used to multiply an
operand with another.
o The division operator is denoted by the forward slash symbol (/). It is used to perform
division operations between two (2) or more operands.
o The modulus operator is denoted by the percent symbol (%). It is used to return the
remainder from a division operation of two operands.

A. Increment and Decrement

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 The increment operator is denoted by two plus signs (++). It is used increase the
numeric value of its operand by one (1). If placed before the operand, it returns the
incremented value. If placed after the operand, it returns the original value and then
increments the operand.
 The decrement operator is denoted by two hyphens (--). It is used to decrease the
numeric value of its operand by one (1). If placed before the operand, it returns the

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decremented value. If placed after the operand, it returns the original value and then
decrements the operand.

IV. Assignment Operators

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 These are operators used to assign values to JS variables.

 Some operators perform arithmetic operations on the value to be assigned; the resulting
value is assigned on the first operand.

V. Comparison Operators

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 These are operators used in logical statements, which determine equality or difference
between given variables and/or values.
 The can only return Boolean values: true or false.

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VI. Logical Operators

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 Also known as Boolean operators.

 They are used to evaluate an expression to determine a resulting Boolean value.
 Returns the Boolean values true or false.

A. The Ternary Operator

 It is a type of logical operator that will assign a value to a variable based on a given
condition.
 It is basically a combination of the logical, assignment, and arithmetic operators.
 It is denoted by the question mark and the colon symbol:
o The question mark (?) serves as a separator between the assignment expression with
the condition and the values to be assigned,
o The colon (:) separates the two (2) values that will be assigned to the declared
variable.
 For the condition, logical operators allow for as many expressions as possible.

VII. String Operators

 Aside from quotation marks, JS can use the plus sign (+) to combine two or more string
values; this process is commonly known as concatenation.
 Concatenation is mostly useful for use in variables that hold string values to form more
complex phrases, greetings, or other string value-based output.
 Numbers within quotes are treated as string values; developers must then be able to
determine whether to hold a numerical value as a string or an actual numerical value for JS
variables.

References:
 SoloLearn. (n.d.) JavaScript Tutorial. Retrieved on April 6, 2018 at
https://www.sololearn.com/Course/JavaScript/
 SoloLearn. (n.d.) jQuery Tutorial. Retrieved on April 6, 2018 at
https://www.sololearn.com/Course/jQuery/

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