book

Effective JavaScript: 68 Specific Ways to Harness the Power of JavaScript

by David Herman

November 2012

Intermediate to advanced

240 pages

4h 50m

English

Addison-Wesley Professional

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JavaScript versus ECMAScriptOn the WebA Note on Concurrency

Item 1: Know Which JavaScript You Are UsingItem 2: Understand JavaScript’s Floating-Point NumbersItem 3: Beware of Implicit CoercionsItem 4: Prefer Primitives to Object WrappersItem 5: Avoid using == with Mixed TypesItem 6: Learn the Limits of Semicolon InsertionItem 7: Think of Strings As Sequences of 16-Bit Code Units
Item 8: Minimize Use of the Global ObjectItem 9: Always Declare Local VariablesItem 10: Avoid withItem 11: Get Comfortable with ClosuresItem 12: Understand Variable HoistingItem 13: Use Immediately Invoked Function Expressions to Create Local ScopesItem 14: Beware of Unportable Scoping of Named Function ExpressionsItem 15: Beware of Unportable Scoping of Block-Local Function DeclarationsItem 16: Avoid Creating Local Variables with evalItem 17: Prefer Indirect eval to Direct eval
Item 18: Understand the Difference between Function, Method, and Constructor CallsItem 19: Get Comfortable Using Higher-Order FunctionsItem 20: Use call to Call Methods with a Custom ReceiverItem 21: Use apply to Call Functions with Different Numbers of ArgumentsItem 22: Use arguments to Create Variadic FunctionsItem 23: Never Modify the arguments ObjectItem 24: Use a Variable to Save a Reference to argumentsItem 25: Use bind to Extract Methods with a Fixed ReceiverItem 26: Use bind to Curry FunctionsItem 27: Prefer Closures to Strings for Encapsulating CodeItem 28: Avoid Relying on the toString Method of FunctionsItem 29: Avoid Nonstandard Stack Inspection Properties
Item 30: Understand the Difference between prototype, getPrototypeOf, and __proto__Item 31: Prefer Object.getPrototypeOf to __proto__Item 32: Never Modify __proto__Item 33: Make Your Constructors new-AgnosticItem 34: Store Methods on PrototypesItem 35: Use Closures to Store Private DataItem 36: Store Instance State Only on Instance ObjectsItem 37: Recognize the Implicit Binding of thisItem 38: Call Superclass Constructors from Subclass ConstructorsItem 39: Never Reuse Superclass Property NamesItem 40: Avoid Inheriting from Standard ClassesItem 41: Treat Prototypes As an Implementation DetailItem 42: Avoid Reckless Monkey-Patching
Item 43: Build Lightweight Dictionaries from Direct Instances of ObjectItem 44: Use null Prototypes to Prevent Prototype PollutionItem 45: Use hasOwnProperty to Protect Against Prototype PollutionItem 46: Prefer Arrays to Dictionaries for Ordered CollectionsItem 47: Never Add Enumerable Properties to Object.prototypeItem 48: Avoid Modifying an Object during EnumerationItem 49: Prefer for Loops to for...in Loops for Array IterationItem 50: Prefer Iteration Methods to LoopsItem 51: Reuse Generic Array Methods on Array-Like ObjectsItem 52: Prefer Array Literals to the Array Constructor
Item 53: Maintain Consistent ConventionsItem 54: Treat undefined As “No Value”Item 55: Accept Options Objects for Keyword ArgumentsItem 56: Avoid Unnecessary StateItem 57: Use Structural Typing for Flexible InterfacesItem 58: Distinguish between Array and Array-LikeItem 59: Avoid Excessive CoercionItem 60: Support Method Chaining
Item 61: Don’t Block the Event Queue on I/OItem 62: Use Nested or Named Callbacks for Asynchronous SequencingItem 63: Be Aware of Dropped ErrorsItem 64: Use Recursion for Asynchronous LoopsItem 65: Don’t Block the Event Queue on ComputationItem 66: Use a Counter to Perform Concurrent OperationsItem 67: Never Call Asynchronous Callbacks SynchronouslyItem 68: Use Promises for Cleaner Asynchronous Logic

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About the Author

David Herman is a senior researcher at Mozilla Research. He holds a BA in computer science from Grinnell College and an MS and PhD in computer science from Northeastern University. David serves on Ecma TC39, the committee responsible for the standardization of JavaScript.