Solve common problems in your JavaScript code

The following links point to solutions to common everyday problems you'll need to fix in order to get your JavaScript code to run correctly.

Common beginner's mistakes

Correct spelling and casing

If your code doesn't work and/or the browser complains that something is undefined, check that you've spelt all your variable names, function names, etc. correctly.   

Some common built-in browser functions that cause problems are:

Semi-colon position

You need to make sure you don't place any semi-colons incorrectly. For example:

Functions

There are a number of things that can go wrong with functions.

One of the most common errors is to declare the function, but not call it anywhere. For example:

function myFunction() {
  alert('This is my function.');
};

This code won't do anything unless you call it, for example with

myFunction();

Function scope

Remember that functions have their own scope — you can't access a variable value set inside a function from outside the function, unless you declared the variable globally (i.e. not inside any functions), or return the value out of the function.

Running code after a return statement

Remember also that when you return a value out of a function, the JavaScript interpreter exits the function — no code declared after the return statement will run.

In fact, some browsers (like Firefox) will give you an error message in the developer console if you have code after a return statement. Firefox gives you "unreachable code after return statement".

Object notation versus normal assignment

When you assign something normally in JavaScript, you use a single equals sign, e.g.:

var myNumber = 0;

This doesn't work in Objects, however — with objects you need to separate member names from their values using colons, and separate each member with a comma, for example:

var myObject = {
  name : 'Chris',
  age : 38
}

Basic definitions

Basic use cases

Intermediate use cases