Day / Days of Code: Reflecting on Arrow Functions

Wed, August 28, 2024

As I wrap up the 14 mini-projects, there’s one more assignment before tackling the number guessing game. Throughout this journey, I’ve found AI incredibly helpful for getting feedback on my coding style.

I’ve had a question about writing functions because when given the chance I've usually written arrow function, because at my last job, arrow functions were the norm, especially during tech showcases. But despite their name, they're actually variables, or expression statements. So, I wondered if I’m missing out by not using traditional functions more often.

Here’s what Copilot had to say about the differences between arrow functions and traditional functions. These points are worth noting, even though we haven’t covered them all yet:

• Syntax and Conciseness: Arrow functions offer a shorter syntax, making your code more readable and concise, especially for simple functions. this Binding: Arrow functions don’t have their own this context; they inherit it from the surrounding lexical context. This is useful for event handlers or callbacks where you want to maintain the context of this. Traditional functions have their own this context, which can sometimes be confusing.
• arguments Object: Arrow functions don’t have their own arguments object. If you need to access the arguments passed to the function, you’ll need to use rest parameters (...args). Traditional functions have their own arguments object, which can be handy.
• Constructors: Arrow functions can’t be used as constructors and will throw an error if you try to use them with the new keyword. Traditional functions can be used as constructors, which is important for object-oriented programming.
• Methods: Arrow functions aren’t suitable for defining methods in objects because they don’t have their own this context. Traditional functions are better for this purpose.
• In summary, while arrow functions are great for many use cases, especially for callbacks and simple functions, traditional functions still have their place. It’s good to be comfortable with both and use them appropriately based on the context.

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