Book Image

Clean Code in JavaScript

By : James Padolsey
Book Image

Clean Code in JavaScript

By: James Padolsey

Overview of this book

Building robust apps starts with creating clean code. In this book, you’ll explore techniques for doing this by learning everything from the basics of JavaScript through to the practices of clean code. You’ll write functional, intuitive, and maintainable code while also understanding how your code affects the end user and the wider community. The book starts with popular clean-coding principles such as SOLID, and the Law of Demeter (LoD), along with highlighting the enemies of writing clean code such as cargo culting and over-management. You’ll then delve into JavaScript, understanding the more complex aspects of the language. Next, you’ll create meaningful abstractions using design patterns, such as the Class Pattern and the Revealing Module Pattern. You’ll explore real-world challenges such as DOM reconciliation, state management, dependency management, and security, both within browser and server environments. Later, you’ll cover tooling and testing methodologies and the importance of documenting code. Finally, the book will focus on advocacy and good communication for improving code cleanliness within teams or workplaces, along with covering a case study for clean coding. By the end of this book, you’ll be well-versed with JavaScript and have learned how to create clean abstractions, test them, and communicate about them via documentation.
Table of Contents (26 chapters)
1
Section 1: What is Clean Code Anyway?
7
Section 2: JavaScript and Its Bits
13
Section 3: Crafting Abstractions
16
Section 4: Testing and Tooling
20
Section 5: Collaboration and Making Changes

Case Study

In this book, we have discussed a litany of principles, walked through almost every aspect of the JavaScript language, and have discussed, at length, what constitutes clean code. This has all been working toward a final destination where we are fully equipped to write beautiful and clean JavaScript code that tackles real and challenging problem domains. The pursuit of clean code, however, is never complete; new challenges will always arise that make us think in new and paradigm-shifting ways about the code we write.

In this chapter, we'll be walking through the process of creating a new piece of functionality in JavaScript. This will involve both client-side and server-side parts, and will force us to apply many of the principles and knowledge we've gathered throughout the book. The specific problem we'll be tackling has been adapted from a real-life...