JavaScript Guide

This style guide aims to provide the ground rules for CFPB's JavaScript code, such that it's highly readable and consistent across different developers on a team.

Linting
Modules
Strict Mode
Spacing
Naming
Semicolons
Strings
Variable Declaration
Conditionals
Equality
Ternary Operators
Functions
Prototypes
Object Literals
Array Literals
Regular Expressions
console Statements
Comments
Variable Naming
Polyfills
Everyday Tricks
Credits

Linting

Lint your code using ESLint. CFPB-tailored ESLint options exist.

Modules

This style guide assumes you're using a module system such as CommonJS, AMD, ES6 Modules, or any other kind of module system. If you are using CommonJS, refer to the CommonJS guide for structuring your modules. Modules systems provide individual scoping, avoid leaks to the global object, and improve code base organization by automating dependency graph generation, instead of having to resort to manually creating multiple <script> tags.

Module systems also provide us with dependency injection patterns, which are crucial when it comes to testing individual components in isolation.

Strict Mode

Always put 'use strict'; at the top of your modules. Strict mode allows you to catch nonsensical behavior, discourages poor practices, and is faster because it allows compilers to make certain assumptions about your code.

Spacing

Spacing must be consistent across every file in the application. To this end, using something like .editorconfig configuration files is highly encouraged. Here are the defaults we suggest to get started with JavaScript indentation.

# editorconfig.org
root = true

[*]
indent_style = space
indent_size = 2
end_of_line = lf
charset = utf-8
trim_trailing_whitespace = true
insert_final_newline = true

[*.md]
trim_trailing_whitespace = false

We recommend using 2 spaces for indentation. The .editorconfig file can take care of that for us and everyone would be able to create the correct spacing by pressing the tab key.

Spacing doesn't just entail tabbing, but also the spaces before, after, and in between arguments of a function declaration. Try to keep this spacing consistent throughout the codebase.

Where possible, improve readability by keeping lines below the 80-character mark.

Naming

Functions, variables, methods, objects and instances should be named using camelCase.
Constructors and prototypes should use PascalCase.
Symbolic constants should use UPPERCASE.
Encapsulated (private) variables and methods should use _underscoreCamelCase.
Prefix variables or properties that reference a jQuery object with $ or _$ (depending on exposure). For example: var $button = $( '.btn-class' );.

Semicolons`;`

We advocate for using semicolons at the end of each line. This choice is done to avoid potential issues with Automatic Semicolon Insertion (ASI).

Strings

Strings should always be quoted using the same quotation mark. Use ' or " consistently throughout your codebase. Ensure the team is using the same quotation mark in every portion of JavaScript that's authored. In general, we prefer to use single quotation marks '.

Bad

var message = 'oh hai ' + name + "!";

Good

var message = 'oh hai ' + name + '!';

Usually you'll be a happier JavaScript developer if you hack together a parameter-replacing method like util.format in Node. That way it'll be far easier to format your strings, and the code looks a lot cleaner too.

Variable Declaration

Always declare variables in a consistent manner, and at the top of their scope. Keeping variable declarations to one per line is encouraged. Comma-first, a single var statement, multiple var statements, it's all fine, just be consistent across the project, and ensure the team is on the same page.

Bad

var foo = 1,
    bar = 2;

var baz;
var pony;

var a
  , b;

var foo = 1;

if (foo > 1) {
  var bar = 2;
}

Good

(Because they're consistent with each other, not because of the style.)

var foo = 1;
var bar = 2;

var baz;
var pony;

var a;
var b;

var foo = 1;
var bar;

if (foo > 1) {
  bar = 2;
}

Variable declarations that aren't immediately assigned a value are acceptable to share the same line of code.

Acceptable

var a = 'a';
var b = 2;
var i, j;

Conditionals

Brackets are enforced. This, together with a reasonable spacing strategy will help you avoid mistakes such as Apple's SSL/TLS bug.

Bad

if (err) throw err;

Good

if (err) { throw err; }

It's even better if you avoid keeping conditionals on a single line, for the sake of text comprehension.

Better

if (err) {
  throw err;
}

Equality

Avoid using == and != operators, always favor === and !==. These operators are called the "strict equality operators," while their counterparts will attempt to cast the operands into the same value type.

Bad

function isEmptyString (text) {
  return text == '';
}

isEmptyString(0);
// <- true

Good

function isEmptyString (text) {
  return text === '';
}

isEmptyString(0);
// <- false

Ternary Operators

Ternary operators are fine for clear-cut conditionals, but unacceptable for confusing choices. As a rule, if you can't eye-parse it as fast as your brain can interpret the text that declares the ternary operator, chances are it's probably too complicated for its own good.

jQuery is a prime example of a codebase that's filled with nasty ternary operators.

Bad

function calculate (a, b) {
  return a && b ? 11 : a ? 10 : b ? 1 : 0;
}

Good

function getName (mobile) {
  return mobile ? mobile.name : 'Generic Player';
}

In cases that may prove confusing just use if and else statements instead.

Functions

When declaring a function, always use the function declaration form instead of function expressions. Because hoisting.

Bad

var sum = function (x, y) {
  return x + y;
};

Good

function sum (x, y) {
  return x + y;
}

That being said, there's nothing wrong with function expressions that are just currying another function.

Good

var plusThree = sum.bind(null, 3);

Keep in mind that function declarations will be hoisted to the top of the scope so it doesn't matter the order they are declared in. That being said, you should always keep functions at the top level in a scope, and avoid placing them inside conditional statements.

Bad

if (Math.random() > 0.5) {
  sum(1, 3);

  function sum (x, y) {
    return x + y;
  }
}

Good

if (Math.random() > 0.5) {
  sum(1, 3);
}

function sum (x, y) {
  return x + y;
}

function sum (x, y) {
  return x + y;
}

if (Math.random() > 0.5) {
  sum(1, 3);
}

If you need a "no-op" method you can use either Function.prototype, or function noop () {}. Ideally a single reference to noop is used throughout the application.

Whenever you have to manipulate an array-like object, cast it to an array.

Bad

var divs = document.querySelectorAll('div');

for (i = 0; i < divs.length; i++) {
  console.log(divs[i].innerHTML);
}

Good

var divs = document.querySelectorAll('div');

[].slice.call(divs).forEach(function (div) {
  console.log(div.innerHTML);
});

However, be aware that there is a substantial performance hit in V8 environments when using this approach on arguments. If performance is a major concern, avoid casting arguments with slice and instead use a for loop.

Bad

var args = [].slice.call(arguments);

Good

var i;
var args = new Array(arguments.length);
for (i = 0; i < args.length; i++) {
    args[i] = arguments[i];
}

Don't declare functions inside of loops.

Bad

var values = [1, 2, 3];
var i;

for (i = 0; i < values.length; i++) {
  setTimeout(function () {
    console.log(values[i]);
  }, 1000 * i);
}

var values = [1, 2, 3];
var i;

for (i = 0; i < values.length; i++) {
  setTimeout(function (i) {
    return function () {
      console.log(values[i]);
    };
  }(i), 1000 * i);
}

Good

var values = [1, 2, 3];
var i;

for (i = 0; i < values.length; i++) {
  setTimeout(function (i) {
    console.log(values[i]);
  }, 1000 * i, i);
}

var values = [1, 2, 3];
var i;

for (i = 0; i < values.length; i++) {
  wait(i);
}

function wait (i) {
  setTimeout(function () {
    console.log(values[i]);
  }, 1000 * i);
}

Or even better, just use .forEach which doesn't have the same caveats as declaring functions in for loops.

Better

[1, 2, 3].forEach(function (value, i) {
  setTimeout(function () {
    console.log(value);
  }, 1000 * i);
});

Whenever a method is non-trivial, make the effort to use a named function declaration rather than an anonymous function. This will make it easier to pinpoint the root cause of an exception when analyzing stack traces.

Bad

function once (fn) {
  var ran = false;
  return function () {
    if (ran) { return };
    ran = true;
    fn.apply(this, arguments);
  };
}

Good

function once (fn) {
  var ran = false;
  return function run () {
    if (ran) { return };
    ran = true;
    fn.apply(this, arguments);
  };
}

Avoid keeping indentation levels from raising more than necessary by using guard clauses instead of flowing if statements.

Bad

if (car) {
  if (black) {
    if (turbine) {
      return 'batman!';
    }
  }
}

if (condition) {
  // 10+ lines of code
}

Good

if (!car) {
  return;
}
if (!black) {
  return;
}
if (!turbine) {
  return;
}
return 'batman!';

if (!condition) {
  return;
}
// 10+ lines of code

Prototypes

Hacking native prototypes should be avoided at all costs, use a method instead. If you must extend the functionality in a native type, try using something like poser instead.

Bad

String.prototype.half = function () {
  return this.substr(0, this.length / 2);
};

Good

function half (text) {
  return text.substr(0, text.length / 2);
}

Avoid prototypical inheritance models unless you have a very good performance reason to justify yourself.

Prototypical inheritance boosts puts need for this through the roof
It's way more verbose than using object literals
It causes headaches when creating new objects
Needs a closure to hide valuable private state of instances
Just use object literals instead

Object Literals

Instantiate using the egyptian notation {}. Use factories instead of constructors.

Array Literals

Instantiate using the square bracketed notation []. If you have to declare a fixed-dimension array for performance reasons then it's fine to use the new Array(length) notation instead.

Regular Expressions

Keep regular expressions in variables, don't use them inline. This will vastly improve readability.

Bad

if (/\d+/.test(text)) {
  console.log('so many numbers!');
}

Good

var numeric = /\d+/;
if (numeric.test(text)) {
  console.log('so many numbers!');
}

Also learn how to write regular expressions, and what they actually do. Then you can also visualize them online.

`console` statements

Preferably bake console statements into a service that can easily be disabled in production. Alternatively, don't ship any console.log printing statements to production distributions.

Comments

JSDocs

Use JSDocs where applicable for JavaScript commenting.

Purpose

Comments aren't meant to explain what the code does. Good code is supposed to be self-explanatory. If you're thinking of writing a comment to explain what a piece of code does, chances are you need to change the code itself. The exception to that rule is explaining what a regular expression does. Good comments are supposed to explain why code does something that may not seem to have a clear-cut purpose.

Bad

// Create the centered container.
var p = $('<p/>');
p.center(div);
p.text('foo');

Good

var container = $('<p/>');
var contents = 'foo';
container.center(parent);
container.text(contents);
megaphone.on('data', function (value) {
  // The megaphone periodically emits updates for container.
  container.text(value);
});

// One or more digits somewhere in the string.
var numeric = /\d+/;
if (numeric.test(text)) {
  console.log('so many numbers!');
}

Commenting out entire blocks of code should be avoided entirely, that's why you have version control systems in place!

Variable Naming

Variables must have meaningful names so that you don't have to resort to commenting what a piece of functionality does. Instead, try to be expressive while succinct, and use meaningful variable names.

Bad

function a (x, y, z) {
  return z * y / x;
}
a(4, 2, 6);
// <- 3

Good

function ruleOfThree (had, got, have) {
  return have * got / had;
}
ruleOfThree(4, 2, 6);
// <- 3

Polyfills

Where possible use the native browser implementation and include a polyfill that provides that behavior for unsupported browsers. This makes the code easier to work with and less involved in hackery to make things just work.

Although we continue to support IE8, we do not support scripted interactions and rely instead on progressive enhancement to provide IE8 users with a functioning experience.

If you can't patch a piece of functionality with a polyfill, then wrap all uses of the patching code in a globally available method that is accessible from everywhere in the application.

Everyday Tricks

Use || to define a default value. If the left-hand value is falsy then the right-hand value will be used. Be advised, that because of loose type comparison, inputs like false, 0, null or '' will be evaluated as falsy, and converted to default value. For strict type checking use if (value === void 0) { value = defaultValue }.

function a (value) {
  var defaultValue = 33;
  var used = value || defaultValue;
}

Use .bind to partially-apply functions.

function sum (a, b) {
  return a + b;
}

var addSeven = sum.bind(null, 7);

addSeven(6);
// <- 13

Use Array.prototype.slice.call to cast array-like objects to true arrays.

var args = Array.prototype.slice.call(arguments);

Use event emitters on all the things!

var emitter = contra.emitter();

body.addEventListener('click', function () {
  emitter.emit('click', e.target);
});

emitter.on('click', function (elem) {
  console.log(elem);
});

// simulate click
emitter.emit('click', document.body);

Use Function() as a "no-op".

function (cb) {
  setTimeout(cb || Function(), 2000);
}

Credits

The original version of this document is based on Nicolas Bevacqua's functon qualityGuide, which is licensed under the MIT license.

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JavaScript Guide

Table of Contents

Linting

Modules

Strict Mode

Spacing

Naming

Semicolons;

Strings

Bad

Good

Variable Declaration

Bad

Good

Acceptable

Conditionals

Bad

Good

Better

Equality

Bad

Good

Ternary Operators

Bad

Good

Functions

Bad

Good

Good

Bad

Good

Bad

Good

Bad

Good

Bad

Good

Better

Bad

Good

Bad

Good

Prototypes

Bad

Good

Object Literals

Array Literals

Regular Expressions

Bad

Good

console statements

Comments

JSDocs

Purpose

Bad

Good

Variable Naming

Bad

Good

Polyfills

Everyday Tricks

Credits

Semicolons`;`

`console` statements