Mastering Javascript One-Liners to Look Like a Pro

Javascript one-liners are all about writing succinct, efficient, and elegant pieces of code that not only perform a task with the least verbosity but also exhibit the power and expressiveness of modern ES Javascript. It’s about enhancing your coding style, making it clean, readable, and—above all—professional.

Introduction to Javascript One-Liners

A single line of Javascript can accomplish what used to take multiple lines, thanks to the evolution of ES6 and beyond, offering new functional features that make coding less of an effort and more of an art. These Javascript one-liners are not just about writing less code; they're about improving code quality, reducing errors, and making it highly approachable for other developers to understand.

Writing Clean and Efficient Code

When you utilize Javascript one-liners, you're taking advantage of modern syntactic sugar that allows for writing more with less. It’s no longer about the length but the impact and quality of your code that distinguishes you as a pro Javascript developer.

Enhancing Readability and Maintainability

The beauty of these one-liners lies in their ability to be both functional and readable While they may be compact, they're formatted in a way that makes them easily understandable to others who may inherit your code which is vital for maintainability.

One-Liners That Sharp Your Coding Style

Let's explore a few one-liners and understand their simplicity and power:

Generate a Random String

This is perfect for when you need a unique ID or a nonce for a session token. This one-liner shows just how expressive Javascript can be.

const randomString = () => Math.random().toString(36).slice(2);

Check If a Day is a Weekday

Something so useful yet so simple. It’s quick checks like these that can save you a ton of time.

const isWeekday = (date) => date.getDay() % 6 !== 0;

Copying Content to Clipboard

It’s all about enhancing user experience with minimal code.

const copyToClipboard = (content) => navigator.clipboard.writeText(content);

Shuffle an Array

Great for randomising elements such as when you’re making a quiz or a game.

const shuffleArray = array => array.sort(() => Math.random() - 0.5);

Convert RGBA to Hexadecimal and Vice Versa

Such conversions are handy for developing color pickers or design related tools.

const rgbaToHex = (r, g, b) => "#" + [r, g, b].map(num => parseInt(num).toString(16).padStart(2, '0')).join('');
const hexToRgba = hex => {
  const [r, g, b] = hex.match(/\w\w/g).map(val => parseInt(val, 16));
  return `rgba(${r}, ${g}, ${b}, 1)`;
};

Capitalize the First Letter of a String

Ideal for form inputs or when normalizing data for display.

const capitalize = (str) => `${str.charAt(0).toUpperCase()}${str.slice(1)}`;

Calculate Percentage

This is essential for applications that involve reports and analytics.

const calculatePercent = (value, total) => Math.round((value / total) * 100);

Get a Random Element From an Array

It’s always fun to surprise users with something random.

const getRandomItem = (items) => items[Math.floor(Math.random() * items.length)];

Remove Duplicate Elements

Essential for data processing to ensure uniqueness.

const removeDuplicates = (arr) => [...new Set(arr)];

Sorting Elements By a Certain Property

Perfect for lists that require dynamic ordering.

const sortBy = (arr, key) => arr.sort((a, b) => a[key] > b[key] ? 1 : -1);

Convert String to camelCase

el casing is integral in Javascript for variable naming conventions.

const toCamelCase = (str) => str.trim().replace(/_\s]+(.)?/g, (_, c) => (c ? c.toUpperCase() : ''));

Folding a Long Line Without Breaking Words

Ideal for text formatting in UI elements space is constrained.

const foldLine = (line, maxChars) => line.replace(new RegExp(`(.{1,${maxChars}})(\\s+|$)`, 'g'), '$1\n').trim();

Escape HTML Special Characters

To prevent XSS attacks, escaping input is crucial:

const escapeHTML = (str) => str.replace(/[&<>"']/g, (m) => ({ '&': '&amp;', '<': '&lt;', '>': '&gt;', '"': '&quot;', "'": '&#39;' }[m]));

Reverse a String

It's simple yet frequently for algorithms and logic puzzles.

const reverseString = str => str.split('').reverse().join('');

Snippets in Modern Editors

For developers using frameworks like React, IDEs offer snippets such as af, rfc, and rafce, which generate anonymous function, React functional component, and React arrow function component with export respectively.

Javascript One-Liners FAQs

What is a Javascript one-liner?

A Javascript one-liner is a succinct line of code that executes a specific task or function in a compact and efficient manner.

Why are one-liners useful?

One-liners are useful for writing cleaner, more readable code, reducing the potential for errors, and saving developers' time.

Can one-liners be used in any Javascript project?

Yes, Javascript one-liners can be integrated into a variety of projects, providing they are written in modern ES Javascript.

How will using Javascript one-liners make me look like a pro?

Using Javascript one-liners demonstrates a mastery of language features and an ability to write elegant, efficient code.

Are there one-liner snippets for frameworks like React?

Yes, many code editors offer LSP (Language Server Protocol) enabled snippets for frameworks like React that allow for quick scaffolding of components and structures with simple keystrokes.

Conclusion

Adopting Javascript one-liners is a step towards upping your developer game and coding like a true pro. It shows a commitment to not just getting the job done, but doing it with finesse, simplicity, and perhaps most importantly, in a maintainable and scalable way. Whether it’s randomising strings, checking weekdays, or escaping HTML, one-liners allow you to code elegantly with modern ES Javascript at the forefront. As the language continues to evolve, so too will the potential for these compact gems of code. Embrace them and watch your coding transform from functional to fantastic.

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Comments

[Samuel Rouse]

There are a lot of great one-liners in here that can be very useful, but we may need to be more careful with array shuffling. For some purposes a simple random shuffle will suffice, but most shuffles have bias in them, and the amount of bias can depend on the JavaScript engine.

The Fisher-Yates shuffle is reliable and unbiased.

For a good visualization of differences, take a look at Mike Bostock's page Will It Shuffle? and try it in different browsers to see the variation.

[ben ajaero]

That's true I considered including the bias, however I thought it might confuse people more.
The Fisher-Yates algorithm is great!

[Mr. Linxed]

Remember that one-liners are not always better/faster/easier.

Readability goes over being clever.

Especially when a one-liner only passes its parameters to another method like this one

const copyToClipboard = (content) => navigator.clipboard.writeText(content);

What's wrong with just:

navigator.clipboard.writeText(content);

If anything, the copyToClipboard should check if the clipboard API is available to use.

A guide to writing clean and readable code

Mr. Linxed ・ Feb 23

#programming #beginners #productivity #discuss

[codingjlu]

Hex to rgb can be one-lined too (not sure why you include the alpha channel if you're not doing anything to it though...):

const hexToRgb = hex => `rgb(${hex.match(/\w\w/g).map(val => parseInt(val, 16))})`

[Satyam Anand]

We love one liners but it can be challenging and sometimes confusing, especially for junior developers.

Btw, thanks for sharing this. Keep posting ❤️👍

[Brice]

I agree that we must keep attention that "one line code" cant suffice. For me a good/pro code portion is a code easy to read/understand/adopt/maintain/extend.
Lenght of the code could be a way de improve the adoption but for ex. a var name or method name or statement complexity of a block.. are impotant too. If a junior is able to quickly adopt and extend your code. Then you're a pro 😎
Thanks for this great article 👌

[ben ajaero]

Thanks Brice!

[ben ajaero]

Thank you!

[Michael Tharrington]

Just have to say that I'm really digging this cover image. It reminds me of synthwave music!

[ben ajaero]

Thanks Michael! It was definitely inspired.

[Konrad Przydział]

From my perspective one-liners are ok as long as they are readable. Nowadays there are a lot of bundlers, compilers etc. which are able to make it more compact so we don't write code for making computer happy. We do it for other developers who need to spend time to understand it.

One good advice: Be pro instead of look like a pro.

[Adam Crockett 🌀]

There should be a disclaimer that wanting to look like a pro is not being a pro. Writing these and explaining the benefits and drawbacks is being a pro

[Kevin Ramirez]

Great post!

[ben ajaero]

Thank you!

[val von vorn]

Nice, but that one is even better:

Title: Top 20 JavaScript One-Liners That Don't Actually Work

𒎏Wii 🏳️‍⚧️ ・ Feb 15

#chatgpt #javascript #abotwrotethis

[codingmaster97]

Javascript is great

[Jeremy Lewis]

I use this one-liner often when a dataset contains duplicates, comes in handy:
(array) => [...new Set(array)]

[ben ajaero]

I love that!

[Scott Reno]

Very useful!

[ben ajaero]

Thanks!

[Gajanan Bodhankar]

To capitalize first letter of each word in a string.

[ben ajaero]

Thanks for the contribution Gajanan!

[Mike Stemle]

Looking like a pro does not make one a pro. This is yet another in a long line of articles pretending to say something interesting while saying very little at all and adding nothing of its own.

It is surprising how many of this exact same article have been written year-to-date. It’s just so very boring.