#AskDev - Using JS shorthand operators for side effects?

Ángel Blanco — Mon, 03 Oct 2022 17:28:23 +0000

JavaScript shorthand operators are helpful for making code more concise and readable. They let us convert code like this:

let dbName;

if (env === "PROD") {
  dbName = "users";
} else {
  dbName = "users-dev";  
}

Into this:

const dbName = env === "PROD" ? "users" : "users-dev";

So, basically, you can use shorthand operators to evaluate an expression into a value in fewer lines of code.

However, in some tutorials and blog posts scattered through the Internet, I saw shorthand operators being used to invoke functions. Not because they wanted to store the resulting value in a variable, but because they want to run the side effects contained in those functions. Something like this:

isUserAdmin ? storeNewData() : sendErrorMessage()

To me, this is a weird way of using shorthand operators, because, in my mind, shorthand operators are intented for resolving into a value, not for running side effects conditionally. That syntax works anyway, but somehow it feels wrong to me.

And that's why I'm writing this post, to have a place where we can respectfully share our opinion on this. What are your thoughts? Does invoking functions with side effects through shorthand operators makes sense for you? What is your advice on this topic?

Thanks for reading / answering! 😁

TISO #01 🤯 crontab -e != sudo crontab -e

Ángel Blanco — Mon, 03 Oct 2022 16:40:24 +0000

Welcome to TISO (Today I Stack-Overflow-ed)! This a post series where I share what I learnt after facing a weird bug on my code or an unexpected behavior on my machine, in hopes that you also learn from it. Feedback and comments are welcome!

Today I was trying to configure a Linux server to run a NodeJS service on every boot using Cron and Crontab. The shell command to edit the Crontab file where you schedule the tasks is crontab -e. But then, while playing around with Crontab, I stumbled upon something unexpected:

Running crontab -e opens a different Crontab file than sudo crontab -e! If you add some cron tasks on the first one, they won't appear in the latter, and vice versa.

This is because when you run the command without sudo, you will add tasks as the current logged in user. But if you add sudo then you will add tasks to another Crontab that executes with root user's permissions. Quite dangerous!

Did you know this already? Is there something else you want to add? Feel free to say it in the comments! ⬇

Original source: https://stackoverflow.com/questions/43237488/linux-difference-between-sudo-crontab-e-and-just-crontab-e

DEV Community: Ángel Blanco

#AskDev - Using JS shorthand operators for side effects?

TISO #01 🤯 crontab -e != sudo crontab -e