- cross-posted to:
- programmer_humor@programming.dev
- cross-posted to:
- programmer_humor@programming.dev
Automatic Semicolon Insertion (ASI) has (sadly) been a part of JavaScript longer than 2016. I’m not sure exactly when it was introduced, but this document from 2009 already contains it: https://web.archive.org/web/20120418215856/https://ecma262-5.com/ELS5_Section_7.htm#Section_7.9
IMO it’s bad practice to rely on ASI since the semicolons may not get inserted where you expected them to. The following snippet
const x = 0 const y = x [1, 2, 3].forEach(console.log)
is interpreted as
const x = 0; const y = x[1, 2, 3].forEach(console.log);
which raises a
TypeError
.There are more examples of ASI not doing the right thing on the web, so I don’t agree with “Javascript doesn’t need semicolon”.
Use an autoformatter for all code (both in the editor on save/type and as CI check).
There is no problem anymore.
As Mark Twain said, “Never discuss politics, semicolons, tabs, or religion in polite company.”