javascript-mastery

🧠 JavaScript Mastery

33+ essential JavaScript concepts every developer should know, inspired by 33-js-concepts.

When to Use This Skill

Use this skill when:

• Explaining JavaScript concepts
• Debugging tricky JS behavior
• Teaching JavaScript fundamentals
• Reviewing code for JS best practices
• Understanding language quirks

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1. Fundamentals

1.1 Primitive Types

JavaScript has 7 primitive types:

// String
const str = "hello";

// Number (integers and floats)
const num = 42;
const float = 3.14;

// BigInt (for large integers)
const big = 9007199254740991n;

// Boolean
const bool = true;

// Undefined
let undef; // undefined

// Null
const empty = null;

// Symbol (unique identifiers)
const sym = Symbol("description");

Key points:

• Primitives are immutable
• Passed by value
• typeof null === "object" is a historical bug

1.2 Type Coercion

JavaScript implicitly converts types:

// String coercion
"5" + 3; // "53" (number → string)
"5" - 3; // 2    (string → number)

// Boolean coercion
Boolean(""); // false
Boolean("hello"); // true
Boolean(0); // false
Boolean([]); // true (!)

// Equality coercion
"5" == 5; // true  (coerces)
"5" === 5; // false (strict)

Falsy values (8 total): false, 0, -0, 0n, "", null, undefined, NaN

1.3 Equality Operators

// == (loose equality) - coerces types
null == undefined; // true
"1" == 1; // true

// === (strict equality) - no coercion
null === undefined; // false
"1" === 1; // false

// Object.is() - handles edge cases
Object.is(NaN, NaN); // true (NaN === NaN is false!)
Object.is(-0, 0); // false (0 === -0 is true!)

Rule: Always use === unless you have a specific reason not to.

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2. Scope & Closures

2.1 Scope Types

// Global scope
var globalVar = "global";

function outer() {
  // Function scope
  var functionVar = "function";

  if (true) {
    // Block scope (let/const only)
    let blockVar = "block";
    const alsoBlock = "block";
    var notBlock = "function"; // var ignores blocks!
  }
}