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Assignment operators assign values to JavaScript variables.

Operator Example Same As
= x = y x = y
+= x += y x = x + y
-= x -= y x = x - y
*= x *= y x = x * y
/= x /= y x = x / y
%= x %= y x = x % y
**= x **= y x = x ** y

Shift Assignment Operators

Operator Example Same As
<<= x <<= y x = x << y
>>= x >>= y x = x >> y
>>>= x >>>= y x = x >>> y

Bitwise Assignment Operators

Operator Example Same As
&= x &= y x = x & y
^= x ^= y x = x ^ y
|= x |= y x = x | y

Logical Assignment Operators

Operator Example Same As
&&= x &&= y x = x && (x = y)
||= x ||= y x = x || (x = y)
??= x ??= y x = x ?? (x = y)

The = Operator

The Simple Assignment Operator assigns a value to a variable.

Simple Assignment Examples

The += operator.

The Addition Assignment Operator adds a value to a variable.

Addition Assignment Examples

The -= operator.

The Subtraction Assignment Operator subtracts a value from a variable.

Subtraction Assignment Example

The *= operator.

The Multiplication Assignment Operator multiplies a variable.

Multiplication Assignment Example

The **= operator.

The Exponentiation Assignment Operator raises a variable to the power of the operand.

Exponentiation Assignment Example

The /= operator.

The Division Assignment Operator divides a variable.

Division Assignment Example

The %= operator.

The Remainder Assignment Operator assigns a remainder to a variable.

Remainder Assignment Example

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The <<= Operator

The Left Shift Assignment Operator left shifts a variable.

Left Shift Assignment Example

The >>= operator.

The Right Shift Assignment Operator right shifts a variable (signed).

Right Shift Assignment Example

The >>>= operator.

The Unsigned Right Shift Assignment Operator right shifts a variable (unsigned).

Unsigned Right Shift Assignment Example

The &= operator.

The Bitwise AND Assignment Operator does a bitwise AND operation on two operands and assigns the result to the the variable.

Bitwise AND Assignment Example

The |= operator.

The Bitwise OR Assignment Operator does a bitwise OR operation on two operands and assigns the result to the variable.

Bitwise OR Assignment Example

The ^= operator.

The Bitwise XOR Assignment Operator does a bitwise XOR operation on two operands and assigns the result to the variable.

Bitwise XOR Assignment Example

The &&= operator.

The Logical AND assignment operator is used between two values.

If the first value is true, the second value is assigned.

Logical AND Assignment Example

The &&= operator is an ES2020 feature .

The ||= Operator

The Logical OR assignment operator is used between two values.

If the first value is false, the second value is assigned.

Logical OR Assignment Example

The ||= operator is an ES2020 feature .

The ??= Operator

The Nullish coalescing assignment operator is used between two values.

If the first value is undefined or null, the second value is assigned.

Nullish Coalescing Assignment Example

The ??= operator is an ES2020 feature .

Test Yourself With Exercises

Use the correct assignment operator that will result in x being 15 (same as x = x + y ).

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How can I declare optional function parameters in JavaScript? [duplicate]

Can I declare default parameter like

in JavaScript?

Peter Mortensen's user avatar

2 Answers 2

With ES6: This is now part of the language :

Please keep in mind that ES6 checks the values against undefined and not against truthy-ness (so only real undefined values get the default value - falsy values like null will not default).

This works as long as all values you explicitly pass in are truthy . Values that are not truthy as per MiniGod's comment: null, undefined, 0, false, ''

It's pretty common to see JavaScript libraries to do a bunch of checks on optional inputs before the function actually starts.

GG.'s user avatar

  • 48 null, undefined, 0, false, '', NaN will all get the default value. –  MiniGod Commented Oct 9, 2012 at 9:43
  • 78 If you only want the default value if b is omitted, use if (typeof b === 'undefined') b = 0; –  MiniGod Commented Oct 9, 2012 at 9:47
  • 2 @MiniGod will this throw b into the global namespace when b is omitted? –  kalu Commented Jun 9, 2015 at 20:25
  • 4 @kalu no because you have defined it in the local scope (the function). It is declared and scoped at the function level but will be undefined if not called from outside. So no global scope assignment happens here. –  Tigraine Commented Jun 9, 2015 at 21:19
  • 7 Why? I set the default value of 0. If you want another default value just change that to b = b || 'foo' . –  Tigraine Commented Nov 4, 2015 at 9:58

With ES6, this is possible in exactly the manner you have described; a detailed description can be found in the documentation .

Default parameters in JavaScript can be implemented in mainly two ways:

The expression b || "default value" evaluates the value AND existence of b and returns the value of "default value" if b either doesn't exist or is falsy.

Alternative declaration:

The special "array" arguments is available inside the function; it contains all the arguments, starting from index 0 to N - 1 (where N is the number of arguments passed).

This is typically used to support an unknown number of optional parameters (of the same type); however, stating the expected arguments is preferred!

Further considerations

Although undefined is not writable since ES5, some browsers are known to not enforce this. There are two alternatives you could use if you're worried about this:

Billal Begueradj's user avatar

Not the answer you're looking for? Browse other questions tagged javascript or ask your own question .

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Description

Specifications, browser compatibility.

arguments is an Array -like object accessible inside functions that contains the values of the arguments passed to that function.

Note: If you're writing ES6 compatible code, then rest parameters should be preferred.

Note: “Array-like” means that arguments has a length property and properties indexed from zero, but it doesn't have Array 's built-in methods like forEach() and map() . See §Description for details.

The source for this interactive example is stored in a GitHub repository. If you'd like to contribute to the interactive examples project, please clone https://github.com/mdn/interactive-examples and send us a pull request.

The arguments object is a local variable available within all non- arrow functions. You can refer to a function's arguments inside that function by using its arguments object. It has entries for each argument the function was called with, with the first entry's index at 0.

For example, if a function is passed 3 arguments, you can access them as follows:

Each argument can also be set or reassigned:

The arguments object is not an Array . It is similar, but does not have any Array properties except length . For example, it does not have the pop() method. However, it can be converted to a real Array :

As you can do with any Array-like object, you can use ES2015's Array.from() method or spread syntax to convert arguments to a real Array:

The arguments object is useful for functions called with more arguments than they are formally declared to accept. This technique is useful for functions that can be passed a variable number of arguments, such as Math.min() . This example function accepts any number of string arguments and returns the longest one:

You can use arguments.length to count how many arguments the function was called with. If you instead want to count how many parameters a function is declared to accept, inspect that function's length property.

Using typeof with Arguments

The typeof operator returns 'object' when used with arguments

The type of individual arguments can be determined by indexing arguments :

Defining a function that concatenates several strings

This example defines a function that concatenates several strings. The function's only formal argument is a string containing the characters that separate the items to concatenate.

You can pass as many arguments as you like to this function. It returns a string list using each argument in the list:

Defining a function that creates HTML lists

This example defines a function that creates a string containing HTML for a list. The only formal argument for the function is a string that is " u " if the list is to be unordered (bulleted), or " o " if the list is to be ordered (numbered). The function is defined as follows:

You can pass any number of arguments to this function, and it adds each argument as a list item to a list of the type indicated. For example:

Rest, default, and destructured parameters

The arguments object can be used in conjunction with rest , default , and  destructured  parameters.

While the presence of rest, default, or destructured parameters does not alter the behavior of the arguments  object in strict mode code , there is a subtle difference for non-strict code.

If a non-strict function does not contain rest, default, or destructured parameters, then the values in the  arguments  object do change in sync with the values of the argument variables. See the code below:

When a non-strict function does  contain rest, default, or destructured parameters, then the values in the  arguments  object  do not  track the values of the arguments. Instead, they reflect the arguments provided when the function was called:

Specification Status Comment
Standard Initial definition. Implemented in JavaScript 1.1
Standard  
Standard  
Draft  
DesktopMobileServer
ChromeEdgeFirefoxInternet ExplorerOperaSafariAndroid webviewChrome for AndroidEdge MobileFirefox for AndroidOpera for AndroidSafari on iOSSamsung InternetNode.js
Chrome YesEdge YesFirefox 1IE YesOpera YesSafari YesWebView Android YesChrome Android YesEdge Mobile YesFirefox Android 4Opera Android YesSafari iOS YesSamsung Internet Android Yesnodejs Yes
Chrome YesEdge YesFirefox 1IE 6Opera YesSafari YesWebView Android YesChrome Android YesEdge Mobile YesFirefox Android 4Opera Android YesSafari iOS YesSamsung Internet Android Yesnodejs Yes
Chrome NoEdge NoFirefox NoIE ? — 9Opera NoSafari NoWebView Android NoChrome Android NoEdge Mobile NoFirefox Android NoOpera Android NoSafari iOS NoSamsung Internet Android Nonodejs No
Chrome YesEdge YesFirefox 1IE YesOpera YesSafari YesWebView Android YesChrome Android YesEdge Mobile YesFirefox Android 4Opera Android YesSafari iOS YesSamsung Internet Android Yesnodejs Yes
Chrome 52Edge Firefox 46IE NoOpera YesSafari 9WebView Android 52Chrome Android 52Edge Mobile Firefox Android 46Opera Android YesSafari iOS 9Samsung Internet Android 6.0nodejs Yes
  • Rest parameters

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Function parameters and arguments in javascript.

Function Parameters and Arguments in JavaScript

When working with JavaScript, you will often need to use functions to perform certain actions. Functions allow you to write reusable code that can be called multiple times with different inputs. To achieve this, you can define function parameters and arguments. In this article, we will explore how to work with function parameters and arguments in JavaScript.

Understanding Function Parameters

Function parameters are the inputs that are defined when you create a function. They represent the data that the function needs to perform its actions. You can define parameters by placing them in between the parentheses after the function name, separated by commas. For example:

In this example, name is the parameter of the greet function. You can pass a value to this parameter when you call the function, like this:

In this case, 'John' is the argument that is passed to the name parameter.

Working with Multiple Parameters

You can define multiple parameters in a function by separating them with commas. For example:

In this example, the addNumbers function takes two parameters, num1 and num2. You can pass arguments to these parameters when you call the function, like this:

In this case, 3 and 5 are the arguments that are passed to the num1 and num2 parameters, respectively.

Default Parameter Values

In some cases, you may want to provide a default value for a function parameter. This can be useful when you want to allow the caller to omit a parameter if they choose to. To define a default parameter value, you can use the assignment operator (=) when you define the parameter. For example:

In this example, the name parameter has a default value of 'World'. If you call the greet function without passing a value for the name parameter, it will use the default value:

If you pass a value for the name parameter, it will use that value instead:

Using the Rest Parameter

In some cases, you may want to define a function that can take an indefinite number of arguments. To do this, you can use the rest parameter, which is denoted by three dots (...) followed by the parameter name. For example:

In this example, the sumNumbers function takes any number of arguments and adds them together using the reduce method. You can call this function with any number of arguments:

In this article, we have explored the basics of function parameters and arguments in JavaScript. We have learned how to define function parameters, pass arguments to functions, work with multiple parameters, provide default parameter values, and use the rest parameter to define functions that can take an indefinite number of arguments.

Understanding how to work with function parameters and arguments is a fundamental skill in JavaScript programming. It allows you to write more flexible and reusable code that can be customized based on specific needs. By using parameters and arguments effectively, you can create functions that are more versatile and easier to use in different contexts.

If you are new to JavaScript programming, it may take some time to get comfortable with using function parameters and arguments. However, with practice, you will start to see how these concepts can be used to create more powerful and efficient code.

What is the difference between a function parameter and an argument?

A function parameter is a variable that is defined when you create a function, while an argument is a value that is passed to a parameter when you call the function.

Can a function have multiple parameters?

Yes, a function can have multiple parameters, separated by commas.

What happens if I call a function without passing all of the required arguments?

If you call a function without passing all of the required arguments, JavaScript will set the missing arguments to undefined.

How can I set a default value for a function parameter?

You can set a default value for a function parameter by using the assignment operator (=) when you define the parameter.

What is the rest parameter in JavaScript?

The rest parameter is a special syntax in JavaScript that allows you to define a function that can take an indefinite number of arguments. It is denoted by three dots (...) followed by the parameter name.

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How to use the Arguments Object in a Function in JavaScript ?

The arguments object is a special object available in JavaScript functions that holds all the parameters passed to the function. It allows you to access the arguments passed to a function even if the function was not explicitly defined with named parameters.

Example: Here, the exampleFunction takes no named parameters, but you can still access the arguments using the arguments object. The arguments object is similar to an array in that it has a length property and you can access its elements using numeric indices.

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Destructuring assignment

The two most used data structures in JavaScript are Object and Array .

  • Objects allow us to create a single entity that stores data items by key.
  • Arrays allow us to gather data items into an ordered list.

However, when we pass these to a function, we may not need all of it. The function might only require certain elements or properties.

Destructuring assignment is a special syntax that allows us to “unpack” arrays or objects into a bunch of variables, as sometimes that’s more convenient.

Destructuring also works well with complex functions that have a lot of parameters, default values, and so on. Soon we’ll see that.

Array destructuring

Here’s an example of how an array is destructured into variables:

Now we can work with variables instead of array members.

It looks great when combined with split or other array-returning methods:

As you can see, the syntax is simple. There are several peculiar details though. Let’s see more examples to understand it better.

It’s called “destructuring assignment,” because it “destructurizes” by copying items into variables. However, the array itself is not modified.

It’s just a shorter way to write:

Unwanted elements of the array can also be thrown away via an extra comma:

In the code above, the second element of the array is skipped, the third one is assigned to title , and the rest of the array items are also skipped (as there are no variables for them).

…Actually, we can use it with any iterable, not only arrays:

That works, because internally a destructuring assignment works by iterating over the right value. It’s a kind of syntax sugar for calling for..of over the value to the right of = and assigning the values.

We can use any “assignables” on the left side.

For instance, an object property:

In the previous chapter, we saw the Object.entries(obj) method.

We can use it with destructuring to loop over the keys-and-values of an object:

The similar code for a Map is simpler, as it’s iterable:

There’s a well-known trick for swapping values of two variables using a destructuring assignment:

Here we create a temporary array of two variables and immediately destructure it in swapped order.

We can swap more than two variables this way.

The rest ‘…’

Usually, if the array is longer than the list at the left, the “extra” items are omitted.

For example, here only two items are taken, and the rest is just ignored:

If we’d like also to gather all that follows – we can add one more parameter that gets “the rest” using three dots "..." :

The value of rest is the array of the remaining array elements.

We can use any other variable name in place of rest , just make sure it has three dots before it and goes last in the destructuring assignment.

Default values

If the array is shorter than the list of variables on the left, there will be no errors. Absent values are considered undefined:

If we want a “default” value to replace the missing one, we can provide it using = :

Default values can be more complex expressions or even function calls. They are evaluated only if the value is not provided.

For instance, here we use the prompt function for two defaults:

Please note: the prompt will run only for the missing value ( surname ).

Object destructuring

The destructuring assignment also works with objects.

The basic syntax is:

We should have an existing object on the right side, that we want to split into variables. The left side contains an object-like “pattern” for corresponding properties. In the simplest case, that’s a list of variable names in {...} .

For instance:

Properties options.title , options.width and options.height are assigned to the corresponding variables.

The order does not matter. This works too:

The pattern on the left side may be more complex and specify the mapping between properties and variables.

If we want to assign a property to a variable with another name, for instance, make options.width go into the variable named w , then we can set the variable name using a colon:

The colon shows “what : goes where”. In the example above the property width goes to w , property height goes to h , and title is assigned to the same name.

For potentially missing properties we can set default values using "=" , like this:

Just like with arrays or function parameters, default values can be any expressions or even function calls. They will be evaluated if the value is not provided.

In the code below prompt asks for width , but not for title :

We also can combine both the colon and equality:

If we have a complex object with many properties, we can extract only what we need:

The rest pattern “…”

What if the object has more properties than we have variables? Can we take some and then assign the “rest” somewhere?

We can use the rest pattern, just like we did with arrays. It’s not supported by some older browsers (IE, use Babel to polyfill it), but works in modern ones.

It looks like this:

In the examples above variables were declared right in the assignment: let {…} = {…} . Of course, we could use existing variables too, without let . But there’s a catch.

This won’t work:

The problem is that JavaScript treats {...} in the main code flow (not inside another expression) as a code block. Such code blocks can be used to group statements, like this:

So here JavaScript assumes that we have a code block, that’s why there’s an error. We want destructuring instead.

To show JavaScript that it’s not a code block, we can wrap the expression in parentheses (...) :

Nested destructuring

If an object or an array contains other nested objects and arrays, we can use more complex left-side patterns to extract deeper portions.

In the code below options has another object in the property size and an array in the property items . The pattern on the left side of the assignment has the same structure to extract values from them:

All properties of options object except extra which is absent in the left part, are assigned to corresponding variables:

Finally, we have width , height , item1 , item2 and title from the default value.

Note that there are no variables for size and items , as we take their content instead.

Smart function parameters

There are times when a function has many parameters, most of which are optional. That’s especially true for user interfaces. Imagine a function that creates a menu. It may have a width, a height, a title, an item list and so on.

Here’s a bad way to write such a function:

In real-life, the problem is how to remember the order of arguments. Usually, IDEs try to help us, especially if the code is well-documented, but still… Another problem is how to call a function when most parameters are ok by default.

That’s ugly. And becomes unreadable when we deal with more parameters.

Destructuring comes to the rescue!

We can pass parameters as an object, and the function immediately destructurizes them into variables:

We can also use more complex destructuring with nested objects and colon mappings:

The full syntax is the same as for a destructuring assignment:

Then, for an object of parameters, there will be a variable varName for the property incomingProperty , with defaultValue by default.

Please note that such destructuring assumes that showMenu() does have an argument. If we want all values by default, then we should specify an empty object:

We can fix this by making {} the default value for the whole object of parameters:

In the code above, the whole arguments object is {} by default, so there’s always something to destructurize.

Destructuring assignment allows for instantly mapping an object or array onto many variables.

The full object syntax:

This means that property prop should go into the variable varName and, if no such property exists, then the default value should be used.

Object properties that have no mapping are copied to the rest object.

The full array syntax:

The first item goes to item1 ; the second goes into item2 , and all the rest makes the array rest .

It’s possible to extract data from nested arrays/objects, for that the left side must have the same structure as the right one.

We have an object:

Write the destructuring assignment that reads:

  • name property into the variable name .
  • years property into the variable age .
  • isAdmin property into the variable isAdmin (false, if no such property)

Here’s an example of the values after your assignment:

The maximal salary

There is a salaries object:

Create the function topSalary(salaries) that returns the name of the top-paid person.

  • If salaries is empty, it should return null .
  • If there are multiple top-paid persons, return any of them.

P.S. Use Object.entries and destructuring to iterate over key/value pairs.

Open a sandbox with tests.

Open the solution with tests in a sandbox.

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  1. Use Destructuring Assignment to Pass an Object as a Function's Parameters (ES6) freeCodeCamp

  2. 🎯 Function Arguments in JavaScript : How to Make Passing Argument Mandatory #coding #codewithkg

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COMMENTS

  1. The arguments object - JavaScript | MDN - MDN Web Docs

    The arguments object is a local variable available within all non-arrow functions. You can refer to a function's arguments inside that function by using its arguments object. It has entries for each argument the function was called with, with the first entry's index at 0. For example, if a function is passed 3 arguments, you can access them as ...

  2. JavaScript Function Parameters - W3Schools

    The parameters, in a function call, are the function's arguments. JavaScript arguments are passed by value: The function only gets to know the values, not the argument's locations. If a function changes an argument's value, it does not change the parameter's original value.

  3. How does variable assignment work in JavaScript ... - Stack ...

    In JavaScript, assigning a variable and assigning a property are 2 different operations. It's best to think of variables as pointers to objects, and when you assign directly to a variable, you are not modifying any objects, merely repointing your variable to a different object.

  4. Assignment (=) - JavaScript | MDN - MDN Web Docs

    The assignment (=) operator is used to assign a value to a variable or property. The assignment expression itself has a value, which is the assigned value. This allows multiple assignments to be chained in order to assign a single value to multiple variables.

  5. JavaScript Assignment - W3Schools

    JavaScript Assignment Operators. Assignment operators assign values to JavaScript variables.

  6. How can I declare optional function parameters in JavaScript?

    The special "array" arguments is available inside the function; it contains all the arguments, starting from index 0 to N - 1 (where N is the number of arguments passed). This is typically used to support an unknown number of optional parameters (of the same type); however, stating the expected arguments is preferred!

  7. The arguments object - MDN Web Docs

    The arguments object is useful for functions called with more arguments than they are formally declared to accept. This technique is useful for functions that can be passed a variable number of arguments, such as Math.min() .

  8. Function Parameters and Arguments in JavaScript

    To define a default parameter value, you can use the assignment operator (=) when you define the parameter. For example: function greet (name = "World") { console. log (`Hello, ${name}!`); }

  9. How to use the Arguments Object in a Function in JavaScript

    The arguments object is a special object available in JavaScript functions that holds all the parameters passed to the function. It allows you to access the arguments passed to a function even if the function was not explicitly defined with named parameters.

  10. Destructuring assignment - The Modern JavaScript Tutorial

    It’s called “destructuring assignment,” because it “destructurizes” by copying items into variables. However, the array itself is not modified. It’s just a shorter way to write: // let [firstName, surname] = arr; let firstName = arr [0]; let surname = arr [1]; Ignore elements using commas.