8mo ago

the hardest exam question

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You can call it "Java" to enrage other programmers
You can compare numbers against strings without wasting time converting them
- Array(16).join("wat" - 1) + " Batman!";
  
  JavaScript: :wide eyed and smiling: Sure why not! You're the boss!
  Python: Sighing and downing half a bottle of Advil: Sure. Why not, you're the boss.
- If you're living in 2002 and not using the strict equality operator, that's on you
  
  But what if I don't want strict comparison? What if my frontend contains a text field for a numeric input and I wanna manually check against each possible valid input value if (input_val == 1) {...} else if (input_val == 2) {...} else if... without having to convert it first or check that it's actually a number or fix my frontend?
  (I'm sure there are valid use cases for non-strict comparison, I just can't think of one right now)
  
  why wouldn't you just convert inline? (Number(input_val) === 2)
  Converting would mean you could use a switch statement with your example rather than an if else ladder
  undefined
  
  switch(Number(input_val)) { case 1: doTheFirstThing(); break; case 2: doTheSecondThing(); break; case 3: doTheThirdThing(); break; }
  
  If you're looking for good code, you missed the point of my comment 😄
  If I was looking for an enumeration of valid inputs, I'd make it a selection box rather than a text field that's supposed to contain a number and give the selections reasonable names. If I want an integral quantity, I'd use a number input field.
  If I have no control over the frontend, that means I'm writing a backend in JS for a bullshit frontend, and no amount of good coding practice is going to salvage this mess.
  I'm also blessedly far away from WebDev now. I work in Data Analytics and if I ever have to do any of this for a living, something has gone very wrong.
  Converting texts into numbers or dates still haunts me though - fuck text inputs for numbers and dates.
- The scripting language formerly known as Java.

145 comments