ES2015, ES2016, ES2017 and beyond.
Pull requests are welcomed 🙏🏻❤️
- Variable Declarations
- String Templates
- Arrow Functions
- Classes
- Destructuring
- Spread Operator
- Getter and setter functions
- Modules
- Data Structures
- Helpful string functions
- Helpful array functions
- Promises
- Generators
- Async Await
ES6 brought let and const with proper lexical scoping.
let is the new var. Constants work just like let, but can’t be reassigned.
let and const are block scoped. Therefore, referencing
block-scoped identifiers before they are defined will produce
a ReferenceError.
Example using var:
var variable = 5;
{
console.log('inside', variable); //5
var variable = 10;
}
console.log('outside', variable); //10Observe what happens when we use let:
let variable = 5;
{
console.log('inside', variable); //ReferenceError
let variable = 10;
}
console.log('outside', variable); //5Example using const:
const variable = 5;
variable = variable*2; //TypeError: Attempted to assign to readonly property.Constants are tricky with array and objects. The reference becomes constant but the value does not.
const variable = [5];
console.log(variable) //[5]
variable = [2]; //TypeError: Attempted to assign to readonly property.
variable[0] = 1;
console.log(variable) //[1]Template Strings use back-ticks `` rather than the single or double quotes we're used to with regular strings. A template string could thus be written as follows:
const greeting = `Yo World!`;String Substitution:
Substitution allows us to place any valid JavaScript expression inside a Template Literal, the result will be output as part of the same string.
Template Strings can contain placeholders for string substitution using the ${ } syntax:
var name = "Brendan";
console.log(`Yo, ${name}!`); //"Yo, Brendan!"We can use expression interpolation to embed for some readable inline math:
var a = 10;
var b = 10;
console.log(`${a+b}`); //20They are also very useful for functions inside expressions:
function fn() { return "inside fn"; }
console.log(`outside, ${fn()}, outside`); // outside, inside fn, outside.Multiline Strings:
Multiline strings in JavaScript have required hacky workarounds for some time. Template Strings significantly simplify multiline strings. Simply include newlines where they are needed and BOOM.
let text = `In ES5 this is
not legal.`Unescaped template strings:
we can now construct strings that have special characters in them without needing to escape them explicitly.
var text = "This string contains \"double quotes\" which are escaped.";let text = `This string contains "double quotes" which don't need to be escaped anymore.`;Arrows are a function shorthand using the => syntax.
Arrow functions allow you to preserve the lexical value of this.
Take the example below where we have a nested function, in which we would like to preserve the
context of this from its lexical scope:
function Person(name) {
this.name = name;
}
Person.prototype.prefixName = function (arr) {
return arr.map(function (character) {
return this.name + character; // Cannot read property 'name' of undefined
});
};Using Arrow Functions, the lexical value of this isn't shadowed and we
can re-write the above as shown:
function Person(name) {
this.name = name;
}
Person.prototype.prefixName = function (arr) {
return arr.map(character => this.name + character);
};If an arrow is inside another function, it shares the "arguments" variable of its parent function. Example:
// Lexical arguments
function square() {
let example = () => {
let numbers = [];
for (let number of arguments) {
numbers.push(number * number);
}
return numbers;
};
return example();
}
square(2, 4, 7.5, 8, 11.5, 21); // returns: [4, 16, 56.25, 64, 132.25, 441]Prior to ES6, we implemented Classes by creating a constructor function and adding properties by extending the prototype:
function Person(name, age, gender) {
this.name = name;
this.age = age;
this.gender = gender;
}
Person.prototype.incrementAge = function () {
return this.age += 1;
};And created extended classes by the following:
function Personal(name, age, gender, occupation, hobby) {
Person.call(this, name, age, gender);
this.occupation = occupation;
this.hobby = hobby;
}
Personal.prototype = Object.create(Person.prototype);
Personal.prototype.constructor = Personal;
Personal.prototype.incrementAge = function () {
Person.prototype.incrementAge.call(this);
this.age += 20;
console.log(this.age);
};ES6 classes are a simple sugar over the prototype-based OO pattern. Classes support prototype-based inheritance, super calls, instance and static methods and constructors:
class Person {
constructor(name, age, gender) {
this.name = name;
this.age = age;
this.gender = gender;
}
incrementAge() {
this.age += 1;
}
}And extend them using the extends keyword:
class Personal extends Person {
constructor(name, age, gender, occupation, hobby) {
super(name, age, gender);
this.occupation = occupation;
this.hobby = hobby;
}
incrementAge() {
super.incrementAge();
this.age += 20;
console.log(this.age);
}
}Destructuring is a convenient way of extracting multiple values from data stored in (possibly nested) objects and Arrays.
Destructuring assignment allows you to assign the properties of an array using syntax that looks similar to array literals.
Old way:
var first = someArray[0];
var second = someArray[1];
var third = someArray[2];New way:
let [first, second, third] = someArray;If you want to declare your variables at the same time, you can add a var, let, or const in front of the assignment.
var [ variable1, variable2, ..., variableN ] = array;
let [ variable1, variable2, ..., variableN ] = array;
const [ variable1, variable2, ..., variableN ] = array;We can even skip a few variables:
let [,,third] = ["foo", "bar", "baz"];
console.log(third); // "baz"There's also no need to match the full array:
let array = [1, 2, 3, 4];
let [a, b, c] = array;
console.log(a, b, c)
// -------- 1 2 3You can capture all trailing items in an array with a “rest” pattern:
const array = [1, 2, 3, 4];
const [head, ...tail] = array;
console.log(head); // 1
console.log(tail); // [2, 3, 4]Rest parameter must be applied as the last element, otherwise you'll get a SyntaxError.
let array = [1, 2, 3, 4];
let [...head, d] = array;
// Uncaught SyntaxError: Unexpected token...Old way of destructuring an object:
var person = { first_name: 'Joe', last_name: 'Appleseed' };
var first_name = person.first_name; // 'Joe'
var last_name = person.last_name; // 'Appleseed'New way of destructuring an object:
let person = { first_name: 'Joe', last_name: 'Appleseed' };
let {first_name, last_name} = person;
console.log(first_name); // 'Joe'
console.log(last_name); // 'Appleseed'When you destructure on properties that are not defined, you get undefined:
let { missing } = {};
console.log(missing); // undefinedYou can also destructure in a for-of loop:
const arr = ['a', 'b'];
for (const [index, element] of arr.entries()) {
console.log(index, element);
}
// Output:
// 0 a
// 1 bWe can use rest operator on an object as well (ES7):
let object = {
a: 'A',
b: 'B',
c: 'C',
d: 'D',
}
const { a, b, ...other } = object; // es7
console.log(other); // {c: 'C', d: 'D'}The spread syntax is simply three dots: ...
It allows an iterable to expand in places where 0+ arguments are expected.
function doStuff (x, y, z) { }
var args = [0, 1, 2];
// Call the function, passing args
doStuff.apply(null, args);Using spread operator:
doStuff(...args);Or another example using Math functions:
const arr = [2, 4, 8, 6, 0];
const max = Math.max(...arr);
console.log(max); //8let mid = [3, 4];
let arr = [1, 2, ...mid, 5, 6]; //[1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6]let arr = [1,2,3];
let arr2 = [...arr]; // like arr.slice()
arr2.push(4)ES6 has started supporting getter and setter functions within classes. Using the following example:
class Person {
constructor(name) {
this._name = name;
}
get name() {
if(this._name) {
return this._name.toUpperCase();
} else {
return undefined;
}
}
set name(newName) {
if (newName == this._name) {
console.log('I already have this name.');
} else if (newName) {
this._name = newName;
} else {
return false;
}
}
}
let person = new Person("John Doe");
// uses the get method in the background
if (person.name) {
console.log(person.name); // John Doe
}
// uses the setter in the background
person.name = "Jane Doe";
console.log(person.name); // Jane Doe Prior to ES6, we used libraries such as Browserify to create modules on the client-side, and require in Node.js. With ES6, we can now directly use modules of all types (AMD and CommonJS).
module.exports = 1;
module.exports = { foo: 'bar' };
module.exports = ['foo', 'bar'];
module.exports = function bar () {};Named Exports:
export function multiply (x, y) {
return x * y;
};As well as exporting a list of objects:
function add (x, y) {
return x + y;
};
function multiply (x, y) {
return x * y;
};
export { add, multiply };Default export:
In our module, we can have many named exports, but we can also have a default export. It’s because our module could be a large library and with default export we can import then an entire module.
Important to note that there's only one default export per module.
export default function (x, y) {
return x * y;
};This time we don’t have to use curly braces for importing and we have a chance to name imported statement as we wish.
import multiply from 'module';
// === OR ===
import whatever from 'module';A module can have both named exports and a default export:
// module.js
export function add (x, y) {
return x + y;
};
export default function (x, y) {
return x * y;
};
// app.js
import multiply, { add } from 'module';The default export is just a named export with the special name default.
// module.js
export default function (x, y) {
return x * y;
};
// app.js
import { default } from 'module';import { add } from 'module';We can even import many statements:
import { add, multiply } from 'module';Imports may also be aliased:
import {
add as addition,
multiply as multiplication
} from 'module';and use wildcard (*) to import all exported statemets:
import * from 'module';A Map is a data structure allows to associate data to a key.
Before it's intruduction in ES6, people generally used objects as maps, by associating some object or value to a specific key value:
const person = {}
person.name = 'John'
person.age = 18
console.log(person.name) //John
console.log(person.age) //18Map example:
const person = new Map()
person.set('name', 'John')
person.set('age', 18)
const name = person.get('name')
const age = person.get('age')
console.log(name) //John
console.log(age) //18The Map also provide us with methods to help us manage the data.
delete() method - deletes an item from a map by key:
person.delete('name')clear() method - delete all items from a map:
person.clear()has() method - check if a map contains an item by key:
const hasName = person.has('name')size() method - check the number of items in a map:
const size = person.sizeWe can also use a couple of methods to iterate:
entries() — get all entries
keys() — get only all keys
values() — get only all values
Find more details about Map here
A WeakMap is a special kind of map.
In a Map, items are never garbage collected. A WeakMap instead lets all its items be freely garbage collected. Every key of a WeakMap is an object. When the reference to this object is lost, the value can be garbage collected.
Main differences between WeakMap and Map:
- you cannot iterate over the keys or values (or key-values) of a WeakMap
- you cannot clear all items from a WeakMap
- you cannot check its size
A WeakMap exposes those methods, which are equivalent to the Map ones:
get(k)
set(k, v)
has(k)
delete(k)The use cases of a WeakMap are less evident than the ones of a Map, and you might never find the need for them, but essentially it can be used to build a memory-sensitive cache that is not going to interfere with garbage collection, or for careful encapsualtion and information hiding.
Find more details about WeakMap here
A Set is a collection for unique values. The values can be primitives or object references.
let set = new Set();
set.add(1);
set.add('1');
set.add({ key: 'value' });
console.log(set); // Set {1, '1', Object {key: 'value'}}Most importantly is that it does not allow duplicate values, one good use if to remove duplicate values from an array:
[ ...new Set([1, 2, 3, 1, 2, 3]) ] // [1, 2, 3]Iteration using built-in method forEach and for..of:
//forEach
let set = new Set([1, '1', { key: 'value' }]);
set.forEach(function (value) {
console.log(value);
// 1
// '1'
// Object {key: 'value'}
});// for..of
let set = new Set([1, '1', { key: 'value' }]);
for (let value of set) {
console.log(value);
// 1
// '1'
// Object {key: 'value'}
};Similar to Map, Set provides us with methods such as has(), delete(), clear().
Find more details about Set here
Like a WeakMap, WeakSet is a Set that doesn’t prevent its values from being garbage-collected. It has simpler API than WeakMap, because has only three methods:
new WeakSet([iterable])
WeakSet.prototype.add(value) : any
WeakSet.prototype.has(value) : boolean
WeakSet.prototype.delete(value) : booleanImportant thing to note WeakSet is a collection that can‘t be iterated and whose size cannot be determined.
Find more details about WeakSet here
var string = 'string';
var substring = 'str';
console.log(string.indexOf(substring) > -1);Instead of checking for a return value > -1 to denote string containment,
we can simply use .includes() which will return a boolean:
const string = 'string';
const substring = 'str';
console.log(string.includes(substring)); // truefunction repeat(string, count) {
var strings = [];
while(strings.length < count) {
strings.push(string);
}
return strings.join('');
}In ES6, we now have access to a nicer implementation:
// String.repeat(numberOfRepetitions)
'str'.repeat(3); // 'strstrstr'from
const inventory = [
{name: 'mars', quantity: 2},
{name: 'snickers', quantity: 3}
];
console.log(Array.from(inventory, item => item.quantity + 2)); // [4, 5]of
Array.of("Twinkle", "Little", "Star"); // returns ["Twinkle", "Little", "Star"]find
const inventory = [
{name: 'mars', quantity: 2},
{name: 'snickers', quantity: 3}
];
console.log(inventory.find(item => item.name === 'mars')); // {name: 'mars', quantity: 2}findIndex
const inventory = [
{name: 'mars', quantity: 2},
{name: 'snickers', quantity: 3}
];
console.log(inventory.findIndex(item => item.name === 'mars')); // 0fill method takes up to three arguments value, start and end. The start and end arguments are optional with default values of 0 and the length of the this object.
[1, 2, 3].fill(1); // [1, 1, 1]
[1, 2, 3].fill(4, 1, 2); // [1, 4, 3]Promises are one of the most exciting additions to JavaScript ES6. Promises are a pattern that greatly simplifies asynchronous programming by making the code look synchronous and avoid problems associated with callbacks.
Prior to ES6, we used bluebird or Q. Now we have Promises natively.
A Promise is an object that is used as a placeholder for the eventual results of a deferred (and possibly asynchronous) computation.
The resolve and reject are functions themselves and are used to send back values to the promise object.
const myPromise = new Promise((resolve, reject) => {
if (Math.random() * 100 <= 90) {
resolve('Hello, Promises!');
}
reject(new Error('In 10% of the cases, I fail. Miserably.'));
});
myPromise.then((resolvedValue) => {
console.log(resolvedValue); //Hello, Promises!
}, (error) => {
console.log(error); //In 10% of the cases, I fail. Miserably.
});Chaining Promises:
Promises allow us to turn our horizontal code (callback hell):
func1(function (value1) {
func2(value1, function (value2) {
func3(value2, function (value3) {
// Do something with value 3
});
});
});Into vertical code like so:
func1(value1)
.then(func2)
.then(func3, value3 => {
// Do something with value 3
});Parallelize Promises:
We can use Promise.all() to handle an array of asynchronous
operations.
let urls = [
'/api/commits',
'/api/issues/opened',
'/api/issues/assigned',
'/api/issues/completed',
'/api/issues/comments',
'/api/pullrequests'
];
let promises = urls.map((url) => {
return new Promise((resolve, reject) => {
$.ajax({ url: url })
.done((data) => {
resolve(data);
});
});
});
Promise.all(promises)
.then((results) => {
// Do something with results of all our promises
});A generator is a function which can be exited and later re-entered. Their context (variable bindings) will be saved across re-entrances.
Generators in JavaScript are a very powerful tool for asynchronous programming as they mitigate the problems with callbacks, such as Callback Hell and Inversion of Control.
This pattern is what async functions are built on top of.
For creating a generator function, we use function * syntax instead of just function.
Calling a generator function does not execute its body immediately; an iterator object for the function is returned instead.
When the iterator's next() method is called, the generator function's body is executed until the first yield expression, which specifies the value to be returned from the iterator or, with yield*, delegates to another generator function.
The next() method returns an object with a value property containing the yielded value and a done property which indicates whether the generator has yielded its last value as a boolean. Calling the next() method with an argument will resume the generator function execution, replacing the yield expression where execution was paused with the argument from next().
Simple example:
function* generator(i) {
yield i;
yield i + 10;
}
var gen = generator(10);
console.log(gen.next().value);// expected output: 10
console.log(gen.next().value); // expected output: 20Example with yield*:
function* anotherGenerator(i) {
yield i + 1;
yield i + 2;
yield i + 3;
}
function* generator(i) {
yield i;
yield* anotherGenerator(i);
yield i + 10;
}
var gen = generator(10);
console.log(gen.next().value); // 10
console.log(gen.next().value); // 11
console.log(gen.next().value); // 12
console.log(gen.next().value); // 13
console.log(gen.next().value); // 20Infinite Data generator example:
function * naturalNumbers() {
let num = 1;
while (true) {
yield num;
num = num + 1
}
}
const numbers = naturalNumbers();
console.log(numbers.next().value)
console.log(numbers.next().value)
// 1
// 2-
Async/Await is a new way to write asynchronous code. Previous options for asynchronous code are callbacks and promises.
-
Async/await is built on top of promises. It cannot be used with plain callbacks or node callbacks.
-
Async/await makes asynchronous code look and behave a little more like synchronous code.
Note that await may only be used in functions marked with the async keyword. It works similarly to generators, suspending execution in your context until the promise settles. If the awaited expression isn’t a promise, its casted into a promise.
async await allows us to perform the same thing we accomplished using Generators and Promises with less effort:
var request = require('request');
function getJSON(url) {
return new Promise(function(resolve, reject) {
request(url, function(error, response, body) {
resolve(body);
});
});
}
async function main() {
var data = await getJSON();
console.log(data);
}
main();Under the hood, it performs similarly to Generators.