Javascript Variables Should You Use Let, Var or Const - by Sigu - Podiihq - Medium

9/28/22, 12:24 AM Javascript variables; should you use let, var or const?
| by sigu | podiihq | Medium
Open in app Get started
Published in podiihq
sigu Follow
Jun 5, 2017 · 3 min read · Listen
Save
Javascript variables; should you use let, var or

const?
Ever wondered when to use either of the three? Why were the other two introduced
into javascript? Lets try get some answers
1. var keyword
for(var i = 0; i<10; i++) {
console.log(i)
console.log(i) 2.2K 18
https://medium.com/podiihq/javascript-variables-should-you-use-let-var-or-const-394f7645c88f 1/5
9/28/22, 12:24 AM Javascript variables; should you use let, var or const? | by sigu | podiihq | Medium
I am making an assumption you know how for loop works. Make a guess, what will
be the value printed by the first console log, what about the second one?
The first one will print out values 0 to 9 then the last console log will print the value
10. This is because i is still valid outside the for loop — the scope of i is not
bounded by the curly braces {} . Now what about this:
function(){
for(var i = 0; i<10; i++) {
console.log(i)
console.log(i)
What will be printed this time round?
var and variables in es5 has scopes in functions meaning the variables are valid
within the function and not outside the function itself. The code above hence
outputs same results as the previous one. With this information what is the output of
the next code?:
function printing(){
for(var i = 0; i<10; i++) {
console.log(i)
printing()
console.log(i)
Right the last console.log has an error stating that i is undefined since the scope of
i in the above function is restricted within the function itself so i is only available
inside printing
There is also the concept of variable hoisting which might make this blog longer so
lets do it in a separate article
One last thing, have you ever seen JavaScript code that looks like this:
(function (){
for(var i = 0; i<10; i++) {
console.log(i)
}
})()
This is an attempt to keep variables in scope to the functions, this is usually called
immediately invoked function expression.
Too much madness up to this moment, so much so that es6 comes with a way to deal
with this variable scope drama.
2. the let Keyword

Its the solution to the madness in the var variables. These variables are scoped in
the braces {} so in this case you can guess what happens
for(let i = 0; i<10; i++) {
console.log(i)
console.log(i)
It will print 0–9 then throw a reference error as i is not in scope outside the braces
3. The const
Do you have values that you dont want changed or that will never change? Like the
value of mathematical pi, they can be assigned to const in javascript. Const actually
means that once the variable is assigned it cannot be assigned again and an attempt
to do so will throw an error
Lets think of a situation where we can use a const, like say we want to apply discount
to an array of numbers and we do not want this discount to be changed at any other
point
const multiplier = 3.4
discount = 5.6 // this will throw an error
[23, 56, 67].map((num)=> num * discount)
The nice looking arrow => inside the map function is called arrow function which I
have written something about here
What might happen in this case

const dog={
age: 3
dog.age = 5
dog = { name: 'biko'}
The const does not make the variable immutable hence the dog.age will change the
age property of the dog object. The last statement will throw an error as the dog
cannot be assigned to another variable. Pretty confusing, huh!
Guess what happens here then
var i
i = 34
for(let i =0; i<4; i++){
console.log(i)
console.log(i)
Conclusion
Always use let as much as possible to avoid the scope monster
References for further reading

1. This guy Mattias Petter Johansson has a nice video about it on youtube
(https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sjyJBL5fkp8)
2. Erick Elliot has something to say too (https://medium.com/javascript-

scene/javascript-es6-var-let-or-const-ba58b8dcde75)
3. Of course the MDN has a tone of info — if you follow the link, go to the
declarations subsection
About Help Terms Privacy
Get the Medium app

Javascript Variables Should You Use Let, Var or Const - by Sigu - Podiihq - Medium

Uploaded by

Document Information

Original Description:

Original Title

Copyright

Available Formats

Share this document

Share or Embed Document

Sharing Options

Did you find this document useful?

Is this content inappropriate?

Copyright:

Available Formats

Javascript Variables Should You Use Let, Var or Const - by Sigu - Podiihq - Medium

Uploaded by

Copyright:

Available Formats

9/28/22, 12:24 AM Javascript variables; should you use let, var or const?

| by sigu | podiihq | Medium

Open in app Get started

Jun 5, 2017 · 3 min read · Listen

Javascript variables; should you use let, var or

for(var i = 0; i<10; i++) {

for(var i = 0; i<10; i++) {

What will be printed this time round?

for(var i = 0; i<10; i++) {

for(var i = 0; i<10; i++) {

2. the let Keyword

for(let i = 0; i<10; i++) {

const multiplier = 3.4

discount = 5.6 // this will throw an error

[23, 56, 67].map((num)=> num * discount)

What might happen in this case

dog = { name: 'biko'}

Guess what happens here then

for(let i =0; i<4; i++){

References for further reading

2. Erick Elliot has something to say too (https://medium.com/javascript-

Open in app Get started

About Help Terms Privacy

Get the Medium app

You might also like