Advanced ES5

Part -2

Week 1

Day 5

Builtin Modules

  • Boolean
  • Date
  • Error
  • Function
  • JSON
  • Math
  • Number
    • NaN
    • Infinity

The Boolean object is an object wrapper for a boolean value.

Boolean

Syntax
new Boolean([value])
Parameters
value
Optional. The initial value of the Boolean object.

  • The value passed as the first parameter is converted to a boolean value, if necessary.
  • If the value is omitted or is 0, -0, null, false, NaN, undefined, or the empty string (""), the object has an initial value of false.
  • All other values, including any object or the string "false", create an object with an initial value of true.
  • Do not confuse the primitive Boolean values true and false with the true and false values of the Boolean object.
  • Any object of which the value is not undefined or null, including a Boolean object whose value is false, evaluates to true when passed to a conditional statement.
var x = new Boolean(false);
if (x) {
  // this code is executed
}

Do not use a Boolean object to convert a non-boolean value to a boolean value. Instead, use Boolean as a function to perform this task:

var x = Boolean(expression);     // preferred
var x = new Boolean(expression); // don't use

Properties

  • Boolean.length

Length property whose value is 1.

  • Boolean.prototype

Represents the prototype for the Boolean constructor.

Date

  • Creates a JavaScript Date instance that represents a single moment in time.
  • Date objects are based on a time value that is the number of milliseconds since 1 January 1970 UTC.

Unix time (also known as POSIX time[citation needed] or UNIX Epoch time) is a system for describing a point in time, defined as the number of seconds that have elapsed since 00:00:00 Coordinated Universal Time (UTC), Thursday, 1 January 1970.

var date1 = new Date('December 17, 1995 03:24:00');
// Sun Dec 17 1995 03:24:00 GMT...

var date2 = new Date('1995-12-17T03:24:00');
// Sun Dec 17 1995 03:24:00 GMT...

console.log(date1 === date2);
// expected output: false;

console.log(date1 - date2);
// expected output: 0

JavaScript Date objects can only be instantiated by calling JavaScript Date as a constructor: calling it as a regular function (i.e. without the new operator) will return a string rather than a Date object; 

new Date();
new Date(value);
new Date(dateString);
new Date(year, monthIndex [, day [, hours [, minutes [, seconds [, milliseconds]]]]]);

value

  • Integer value representing the number of milliseconds since January 1, 1970, 00:00:00 UTC, with leap seconds ignored (Unix Epoch; but consider that most Unix timestamp functions count in seconds).

dateString

  • String value representing a date. The string should be in a format recognized by the Date.parse() method (IETF-compliant RFC 2822 timestamps and also a version of ISO8601).

Date.now()

  • Returns the numeric value corresponding to the current time - the number of milliseconds elapsed since January 1, 1970 00:00:00 UTC, with leap seconds ignored.

Date.parse()

  • Parses a string representation of a date and returns the number of milliseconds since 1 January, 1970, 00:00:00, UTC, with leap seconds ignored.

Note: Parsing of strings with Date.parse is strongly discouraged due to browser differences and inconsistencies.

Date.UTC()

  • Accepts the same parameters as the longest form of the constructor (i.e. 2 to 7) and returns the number of milliseconds since January 1, 1970, 00:00:00 UTC, with leap seconds ignored.

Function

  • The Function constructor creates a new Function object.
  • Calling the constructor directly can create functions dynamically, but suffers from security problems.
var sum = new Function('a', 'b', 'return a + b');

console.log(sum(2, 6));
// expected output: 8

Every JavaScript function is actually a Function object. This can be seen with the code (function(){}).constructor === Function which returns true.

Function.prototype.apply()

  • Calls a function and sets its this to the provided value, arguments can be passed as an Array object.

Function.prototype.bind()

  • Creates a new function which, when called, has its this set to the provided value, with a given sequence of arguments preceding any provided when the new function was called.

Function.prototype.call()

  • Calls (executes) a function and sets its this to the provided value, arguments can be passed as they are.

Function.length

  • Specifies the number of arguments expected by the function.

Function.name

  • The name of the function.

Function.prototype.bind()

The bind() method creates a new function that, when called, has its this keyword set to the provided value, with a given sequence of arguments preceding any provided when the new function is called.

var module = {
  x: 42,
  getX: function() {
    return this.x;
  }
}

var unboundGetX = module.getX;
console.log(unboundGetX()); // The function gets invoked at the global scope
// expected output: undefined

var boundGetX = unboundGetX.bind(module);
console.log(boundGetX());
// expected output: 42

Syntax: function.bind(thisArg[, arg1[, arg2[, ...]]])

Function.prototype.call()

The call() method calls a function with a given this value and arguments provided individually.

Syntax: function.call(thisArg, arg1, arg2, ...)

function greet() {
  var reply = [
    this.animal,
    'typically sleep between',
    this.sleepDuration
  ].join(' ');

  console.log(reply);
}

var obj = {
  animal: 'cats', sleepDuration: '12 and 16 hours'
};

greet.call(obj); 
// cats typically sleep between 12 and 16 hours

Function.prototype.apply()

The apply() method calls a function with a given this value, and arguments provided as an array (or an array-like object).

Note: While the syntax of this function is almost identical to that of call(), the fundamental difference is that call() accepts an argument list, while apply() accepts a single array of arguments.

var numbers = [5, 6, 2, 3, 7];

var max = Math.max.apply(null, numbers);

console.log(max);
// expected output: 7

var min = Math.min.apply(null, numbers);

console.log(min);
// expected output: 2

Syntax: function.apply(thisArg, [argsArray])

JSON

  • The JSON object contains methods for parsing JavaScript Object Notation (JSON) and converting values to JSON.
  • It can't be called or constructed, and aside from its two method properties, it has no interesting functionality of its own.
  • JSON is a syntax for serializing objects, arrays, numbers, strings, booleans, and null.
  • It is based upon JavaScript syntax but is distinct from it:
    • some JavaScript is not JSON,
    • and some JSON is not JavaScript.

JSON.parse()

  • Parse a string as JSON, optionally transform the produced value and its properties, and return the value.

JSON.stringify()

  • Return a JSON string corresponding to the specified value, optionally including only certain properties or replacing property values in a user-defined manner.

Math

Math is a built-in object that has properties and methods for mathematical constants and functions. Not a function object.

Unlike the other global objects, Math is not a constructor. All properties and methods of Math are static.

Math.E

  • Euler's constant and the base of natural logarithms, approximately 2.718.

Math.LN2

  • Natural logarithm of 2, approximately 0.693.

Math.LN10

  • Natural logarithm of 10, approximately 2.303.

Math.log2(x)

  • Returns the base 2 logarithm of a number.

Math.max([x[, y[, …]]])

  • Returns the largest of zero or more numbers.

Math.min([x[, y[, …]]])

  • Returns the smallest of zero or more numbers.

Math.pow(x, y)

  • Returns base to the exponent power, that is, baseexponent.

Math.random()

  • Returns a pseudo-random number between 0 and 1.
  • The Number type has exactly 18437736874454810627 (that is, 2^64−2^53+3) values, representing the double-precision 64-bit format IEEE 754-2008 values as specified in the IEEE Standard for Binary Floating-Point Arithmetic,
  • except that the 9007199254740990 (that is, 253−2) distinct “Not-a-Number” values of the IEEE Standard are represented in ECMAScript as a single special NaN value.

There are two other special values, called positive Infinity and negative Infinity.

Concurrency and Event Loop

  • Stack

  • Heap

  • Event Loop *

    • "Run-to-completion"

    • Zero delays

    • Multiple runtimes

  • Never blocking

Stack

Function calls form a stack of frames.

function foo(b) {
  var a = 10;
  return a + b + 11;
}

function bar(x) {
  var y = 3;
  return foo(x * y);
}

console.log(bar(7));
//returns 42

  • When calling bar, a first frame is created containing bar's arguments and local variables.

  • When bar calls foo, a second frame is created and pushed on top of the first one containing foo's arguments and local variables.

  • When foo returns, the top frame element is popped out of the stack (leaving only bar's call frame).

  • When bar returns, the stack is empty.

Heap

Objects are allocated in a heap which is just a name to denote a large mostly unstructured region of memory.

Never blocking

  • A very interesting property of the event loop model is that JavaScript, unlike a lot of other languages, never blocks.

  • Handling I/O is typically performed via events and callbacks, so when the application is waiting for an

  • IndexedDB query to return or an XHR request to return, it can still process other things like user input.

Segment 2

Introduction to FP

  • The design of the imperative languages is based directly on the von Neumann architecture
    • Efficiency is the primary concern, rather than the suitability of the language for software development
  • The design of the functional languages is based on mathematical functions
    • A solid theoretical basis that is also closer to the user, but relatively unconcerned with the architecture of the machines on which programs will run

 

  • treats computation as evaluation of mathematical functions (and avoids state)
  • data and programs are represented in the same way
  • functions as first-class values
    • – higher-order functions: functions that operate on, or create, other functions
    • – functions as components of data structures
  • lambda calculus provides a theoretical framework for describing functions and their evaluation
  • it is a mathematical abstraction rather than a programming language

 

Principles of Programming

Functional Programming

In computer science, functional programming is a programming paradigm—a style of building the structure and elements of computer programs—that treats computation as the evaluation of mathematical functions and avoids changing-state and mutable data.

In computer science, imperative programming is a programming paradigm that uses statements that change a program's state.

const doubleMap = numbers => {
  const doubled = [];
  for (let i = 0; i < numbers.length; i++) {
    doubled.push(numbers[i] * 2);
  }
  return doubled;
};

console.log(doubleMap([2, 3, 4])); // [4, 6, 8]
const doubleMap = numbers => numbers.map(n => n * 2);

console.log(doubleMap([2, 3, 4])); // [4, 6, 8]

Why is it Useful?

There are many possible answers to this question, but generally speaking:

  • The abstract nature of functional programming leads to considerably simpler programs;
  • It also supports a number of powerful new ways to structure and reason about programs.
total = 0;
for (i = 1; i <= 10; ++i)
   total = total+i;

sum [1..10]
  • Programs are easy to write because the system relieves the user from dealing with many tedious implementation considerations such as memory management, variable declaration, etc .
  • Programs are concise (typically about 1/10 of the size of a program in non-FPL)
  • Programs are easy to understand because functional programs have nice mathematical properties (unlike imperative programs) .
  • Functional programs are referentially transparent , that is, if a variable is set to be a certain value in a program; this value cannot be changed again. That is, there is no assignment but only a true mathematical equality.

 

What is a function?

A function is a 

  • relation

  • between input values 

  • to output values

Side Effects

A side effect is any application state change that is observable outside the called function other than its return value. Side effects include:

  • Modifying any external variable or object property (e.g., a global variable, or a variable in the parent function scope chain)
  • Logging to the console
  • Writing to the screen
  • Writing to a file
  • Writing to the network
  • Triggering any external process
  • Calling any other functions with side-effects

Benefits of stateless programs

  • Idempotent (pure) functions
  • Order of evaluation not defined
  • Lazy evaluation possible
  • Optimizations
  • Concurrent processing
  • Easier to test and debug
  • Side effects can’t be eliminated, but can be isolated (monads)

FP Concepts

  • Pure Functions

  • Functions as First Class Citizens

  • Higher Order Functions

  • Lazy Evaluation

A function should be pure

Pure means that given the same inputs a function should always return the same output, it's deterministic.

It has no side-effects

Let's put emphasis on always again. It means that those are not considered pure:

  • IO operations

  • Web requests,

  • Anything that can throw an exception

Higher Order Functions

A function is called higher-order if it takes a function as an argument or returns a function as a result.

The Map Function

The higher-order library function called map applies a function to every element of a list.

map :: (a -> b) -> [a] -> [b]

> map (+1) [1,3,5,7]

[2,4,6,8]

Lazy Evaluation

In programming language theory, lazy evaluation, or call-by-need is an evaluation strategy which delays the evaluation of an expression until its value is needed

The benefits of lazy evaluation include:

  • The ability to define control flow (structures) as abstractions instead of primitives.
  • The ability to define potentially infinite data structures. This allows for more straightforward implementation of some algorithms.
  • Performance increases by avoiding needless calculations, and error conditions in evaluating compound expressions.
  • Function composition is the process of combining two or more functions to produce a new function.
  • Composing functions together is like snapping together a series of pipes for our data to flow through.

Function Composition

Put simply, a composition of functions `f` and `g` can be defined as `f(g(x))`, which evaluates from the inside out — right to left. In other words, the evaluation order is:

  1. `x`
  2. `g`
  3. `f`
const toSlug = input => encodeURIComponent(
  input.split(' ')
    .map(str => str.toLowerCase())
    .join('-')
);

console.log(toSlug('JS Cheerleader'));
// 'js-cheerleader'
const compose = (...fns) => x => fns.reduceRight((v, f) => f(v), x);

const toSlug = compose(
  encodeURIComponent,
  join('-'),
  map(toLowerCase),
  split(' ')
);

console.log(toSlug('JS Cheerleader')); 
// 'js-cheerleader'

http://slides.com/gsklee/functional-programming-in-5-minutes#/4

Pure functional programming in Javascript
If we wanted to program in a pure functional manner in Javascript we can set the following rules:

  • No assignment i.e. changing the value of something already created with = (var statements with = are fine)
  • No for or while loops (use recursion instead)
  • Freeze all objects and arrays (since modifying an existing object or array would be a stateful expression)
  • Disallow Date (since it always produces a new value no matter what the inputs are)
  • Disallow Math.random (same reason as Date)

Style Guides

  • What are Style Guides

  • Some Common Best Practices

  • AirBnB

  • Google

  • Standard JS

  • GitHub

Advanced ES5 Part-2 (Week 1, Day 5)

By Amal Augustine

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Advanced ES5 Part-2 (Week 1, Day 5)

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