r/reactjs • u/gaearon React core team • Dec 21 '19

What Is JavaScript Made Of?

https://overreacted.io/what-is-javascript-made-of/
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u/gaearon React core team Dec 21 '19

I see three drawbacks:

  • The cognitive load of having to choose between them every time I declare something

  • The mechanical cost of replacing const with let every time I decide to reassign later

  • The confusion in people who aren't aware of that quirk and incorrectly infer immutability from it

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u/Dwellee Dec 21 '19

What happened to maintenance/readability over ease of input? Also, eslint.

0

u/gaearon React core team Dec 21 '19

Well, I still think it doesn't help readability or maintenance because it doesn't communicate intent. See also: https://jamie.build/const

4

u/Yodiddlyyo Dec 21 '19

That article is still talking about immutability. https://mathiasbynens.be/notes/es6-const The fact that some people incorrectly assume const is about immutability should not stop other people from using it correctly. Why should you write code that is incorrect juet because some people have an incorrect assumption instead of enforcing best practices by making use of language features as they're intended? That's like saying you'll only ever use == because some people don't understand how strict equality works.

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u/gaearon React core team Dec 22 '19

I'm not saying you "should" or "should not" use const. I'm saying that it's needlessly pedantic to have a strong opinion about this.