undefined | Better HN

0 pointsIzkata2y ago0 comments

It already has a name, even in the contrived example OP named it "x".

The extracted function can simply be getX() or calcX() or generateX() - which verb chosen can tell the reader roughly the origin/complexity of X without having to read the function body: Does it already exist or are we creating it here? If we're creating it, is it internal or is it likely to require other resources like an API call?

In a more concrete example I'm sure it can get a better name than that, too.

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chatmasta2y ago

That's true when you're assigning the result of the function to a variable, but what about the use case where you're replacing a ternary within JSX code? You could extract the evaluation to an assignment of a variable outside of the JSX, but that's the kind of unnecessary complexity that IMO is sometimes worth avoiding.

gtsop2y ago

We are being quite abstract here since we are lacking real-life examples here, but using a variabe assignment intead of an inline if/else assertion does not add any complexity at all. It adds more code, yes. More complexity? No. Is it good or bad to add more code? I would answer: the more easily readable and maintainable version of the code is the better version of the code. More times than not, more code is the better version (when it is dry, with correct abstractions and good names).

chatmasta2y ago

If you're only consuming the variable once, and it's inside a declarative syntax like JSX, then I'd argue it's more readable to use an anonymous function, because the reader doesn't need to look elsewhere, and the function is defined in the same place where it's evaluated. And you don't need to bother thinking up a name for a variable, which could lead you to prematurely generalize.

Personally, most of the time I assign to a variable. But I do think there are cases where the IIFE is an appropriate and more elegant approach.

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0 pointsIzkata2y ago0 comments

It already has a name, even in the contrived example OP named it "x".

In a more concrete example I'm sure it can get a better name than that, too.

0 comments

chatmasta2y ago

gtsop2y ago

chatmasta2y ago

Personally, most of the time I assign to a variable. But I do think there are cases where the IIFE is an appropriate and more elegant approach.

j / k navigate · click thread line to collapse