Ternary Operator

mrCount — Wed, 25 Mar 2020 15:22:43 +0000

Came across it when traversing the sea of JS. I don't know why, but it looks so elegant. And I like it so much I've decided to write about it.

tl:dr version: Basically it's a substitute for the "if" statement.

The premise

The passage bellow is a straight copy from the MDN website.

The conditional (ternary) operator is the only JavaScript operator that takes three operands: a condition followed by a question mark (?), then an expression to execute if the condition is truthy followed by a colon (:), and finally the expression to execute if the condition is falsy. This operator is frequently used as a shortcut for the if statement.

This means, you can write an entire "if" statement using just ":" and "?".

Example

Let's say we're asking a user to input his name with prompt, and then we would like to print out his name with a "greeting". If the user doesn't input anything, we will assign a default value.

if statement

const userName = prompt("Gief me your name!!");
const userGreeting = " waddles around like recieving a prostate exam";

if (userName === "") {
    const userNameDefault = "Yo'momma";
    console.log(userNameDefault + userGreeting);
} else {
    console.log(userName + userGreeting);
}

ternary operator

const userName = prompt("Gief me your name!!");
const userGreeting = " waddles around like recieving a prostate exam";

userName === ""
    ? (userName = "Yo'daddy") + console.log(userName + userGreeting)
    : console.log(userName + userGreeting);

ternary operator with template literal

const userName = prompt("Gief me your name!!");
const userGreeting = `${userName} waddles around like recieving a prostate exam`;

userName === ""
    ? (userName = "Yo'daddy") + console.log(userGreeting)
    : console.log(userGreeting);

What the MDN files don't mention if you have more expressions to execute. You can simply chain them together with '+'.

Conclusion

As you see, the code is shorter and looks a little easier to read once you've got used to it.

What now?!

mrCount — Fri, 27 Dec 2019 13:44:20 +0000

Well, i've just finished a bootcamp on-line. While my understanding of the curriculum was better than i've expected. I'm somehow at a loss as how to implement everything what i've learned.
Tried some easy projects to do completely on my own and most of the time drew a blank on where to begin. And since i have really high expectations of myself, this is not.. was not acceptable.

So, what am I going to do now..

Well one of the 1st things I had to get into that stubborn head of mine was, that I've just picked up on a bunch of new knowledge.. and I mean A BUNCH! While doing the full course in about 35 days. I can't expect from myself to just remember everything in the 1st go.
I took a few days off, done some article reading I've saved during that period. Afterwards I visualised and wrote down my plans on where to head from here.

And the main thing I have to keep in mind.. remember, You have just begun!

The enveloping darkness

I think it's important to keep reminding yourself to be patient. As it is a virtue we're not acustomed to anymore. But this has been my problem since my younger days. Always trying to reach for the stars.
Or better yet, having the problem of seeing the bigger picture. This entails the awareness on how much I lack, instead of what I have learned and just continue on from there.

With that said I have this saying in mind when noticing where my mind is taking me. It helped me get through the workouts when I did competative sports and I think it applies here.

The journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step

GO!, GO!, POWER RANGERS!!

So after reading and ploting my voyage through the oceans of WebDev I noticed many articles write about keeping a journal of your voyage.

I think the single hardest thing for me is writing my journey down.. I'm just not that guy. Most people have gone through the same things, so what do I have to contribute?
After a few days of deliberation, just got to the undertanding that the question itself is moot. And doing something which isn't comfortable, usually helps you grow as a person.

So basically everything I do is an investment in me. And this serves as a tool for that. Learning via explanation. It's the same in sports.
If you're aware of correct movement patterns, you will stick by them more thoroughly. And after a while, it just becomes second nature.

Greatness is a practice, not a status. - lol, sports sure do have a plethora of awesome quotes, don't they

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