Airbnb JavaScript Style Guide() {

A mostly reasonable approach to JavaScript

Note: this guide assumes you are using Babel, and requires that you use babel-preset-airbnb or the equivalent. It also assumes you are installing shims/polyfills in your app, with airbnb-browser-shims or the equivalent.

This guide is available in other languages too. See Translation

Other Style Guides

• ES5 (Deprecated)
• React
• CSS-in-JavaScript
• CSS & Sass
• Ruby

Table of Contents

1. Types
2. References
3. Objects
4. Arrays
5. Destructuring
6. Strings
7. Functions
8. Arrow Functions
9. Classes & Constructors
10. Modules
11. Iterators and Generators
12. Properties
13. Variables
14. Hoisting
15. Comparison Operators & Equality
16. Blocks
17. Control Statements
18. Comments
19. Whitespace
20. Commas
21. Semicolons
22. Type Casting & Coercion
23. Naming Conventions
24. Accessors
25. Events
26. jQuery
27. ECMAScript 5 Compatibility
28. ECMAScript 6+ (ES 2015+) Styles
29. Standard Library
30. Testing
31. Performance
32. Resources
33. In the Wild
34. Translation
35. The JavaScript Style Guide Guide
36. Chat With Us About JavaScript
37. Contributors
38. License
39. Amendments

Types

- 1.1 Primitives: When you access a primitive type you work directly on its value.

- `string`
- `number`
- `boolean`
- `null`
- `undefined`
- `symbol`
- `bigint`

<br />

```javascript
const foo = 1;
let bar = foo;

bar = 9;

console.log(foo, bar); // => 1, 9
```

- Symbols and BigInts cannot be faithfully polyfilled, so they should not be used when targeting browsers/environments that don’t support them natively.

- 1.2 Complex: When you access a complex type you work on a reference to its value.

- `object`
- `array`
- `function`

<br />

```javascript
const foo = [1, 2];
const bar = foo;

bar[0] = 9;

console.log(foo[0], bar[0]); // => 9, 9
```

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References

- 2.1 Use const for all of your references; avoid using var. eslint: prefer-const, no-const-assign

> Why? This ensures that you can’t reassign your references, which can lead to bugs and difficult to comprehend code.

```javascript
// bad
var a = 1;
var b = 2;

// good
const a = 1;
const b = 2;
```

- 2.2 If you must reassign references, use let instead of var. eslint: no-var

> Why? `let` is block-scoped rather than function-scoped like `var`.

```javascript
// bad
var count = 1;
if (true) {
  count += 1;
}

// good, use the let.
let count = 1;
if (true) {
  count += 1;
}
```

- 2.3 Note that both let and const are block-scoped, whereas var is function-scoped.

```javascript
// const and let only exist in the blocks they are defined in.
{
  let a = 1;
  const b = 1;
  var c = 1;
}
console.log(a); // ReferenceError
console.log(b); // ReferenceError
console.log(c); // Prints 1
```

In the above code, you can see that referencing `a` and `b` will produce a ReferenceError, while `c` contains the number. This is because `a` and `b` are block scoped, while `c` is scoped to the containing function.

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Objects

- 3.1 Use the literal syntax for object creation. eslint: no-new-object

```javascript
// bad
const item = new Object();

// good
const item = {};
```

- 3.2 Use computed property names when creating objects with dynamic property names.

> Why? They allow you to define all the properties of an object in one place.

```javascript

function getKey(k) {
  return `a key named ${k}`;
}

// bad
const obj = {
  id: 5,
  name: 'San Francisco',
};
obj[getKey('enabled')] = true;

// good
const obj = {
  id: 5,
  name: 'San Francisco',
  [getKey('enabled')]: true,
};
```

- 3.3 Use object method shorthand. eslint: object-shorthand

```javascript
// bad
const atom = {
  value: 1,

  addValue: function (value) {
    return atom.value + value;
  },
};

// good
const atom = {
  value: 1,

  addValue(value) {
    return atom.value + value;
  },
};
```

- 3.4 Use property value shorthand. eslint: object-shorthand

> Why? It is shorter and descriptive.

```javascript
const lukeSkywalker = 'Luke Skywalker';

// bad
const obj = {
  lukeSkywalker: lukeSkywalker,
};

// good
const obj = {
  lukeSkywalker,
};
```

- 3.5 Group your shorthand properties at the beginning of your object declaration.

> Why? It’s easier to tell which properties are using the shorthand.

```javascript
const anakinSkywalker = 'Anakin Skywalker';
const lukeSkywalker = 'Luke Skywalker';

// bad
const obj = {
  episodeOne: 1,
  twoJediWalkIntoACantina: 2,
  lukeSkywalker,
  episodeThree: 3,
  mayTheFourth: 4,
  anakinSkywalker,
};

// good
const obj = {
  lukeSkywalker,
  anakinSkywalker,
  episodeOne: 1,
  twoJediWalkIntoACantina: 2,
  episodeThree: 3,
  mayTheFourth: 4,
};
```

- 3.6 Only quote properties that are invalid identifiers. eslint: quote-props

> Why? In general we consider it subjectively easier to read. It improves syntax highlighting, and is also more easily optimized by many JS engines.

```javascript
// bad
const bad = {
  'foo': 3,
  'bar': 4,
  'data-blah': 5,
};

// good
const good = {
  foo: 3,
  bar: 4,
  'data-blah': 5,
};
```

- 3.7 Do not call Object.prototype methods directly, such as hasOwnProperty, propertyIsEnumerable, and isPrototypeOf. eslint: no-prototype-builtins

> Why? These methods may be shadowed by properties on the object in question - consider `{ hasOwnProperty: false }` - or, the object may be a null object (`Object.create(null)`). In modern browsers that support ES2022, or with a polyfill such as <https://npmjs.com/object.hasown>, `Object.hasOwn` can also be used as an alternative to `Object.prototype.hasOwnProperty.call`.

```javascript
// bad
console.log(object.hasOwnProperty(key));

// good
console.log(Object.prototype.hasOwnProperty.call(object, key));

// better
const has = Object.prototype.hasOwnProperty; // cache the lookup once, in module scope.
console.log(has.call(object, key));

// best
console.log(Object.hasOwn(object, key)); // only supported in browsers that support ES2022

/* or */
import has from 'has'; // https://www.npmjs.com/package/has
console.log(has(object, key));
/* or */
console.log(Object.hasOwn(object, key)); // https://www.npmjs.com/package/object.hasown
```

- 3.8 Prefer the object spread syntax over Object.assign to shallow-copy objects. Use the object rest parameter syntax to get a new object with certain properties omitted. eslint: prefer-object-spread

```javascript
// very bad
const original = { a: 1, b: 2 };
const copy = Object.assign(original, { c: 3 }); // this mutates `original` ಠ_ಠ
delete copy.a; // so does this

// bad
const original = { a: 1, b: 2 };
const copy = Object.assign({}, original, { c: 3 }); // copy => { a: 1, b: 2, c: 3 }

// good
const original = { a: 1, b: 2 };
const copy = { ...original, c: 3 }; // copy => { a: 1, b: 2, c: 3 }

const { a, ...noA } = copy; // noA => { b: 2, c: 3 }
```

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Arrays

- 4.1 Use