argument

Thanks I will print it out and read thoroughly. That is a very good read, so parameters are a bit like variables (I'm calling them parameter variables now), and i guess i can import arguments into functions?

jasonj7 That's exactly it. They are variables. They are variables that have no value whatsoever. They are just waiting for values to be given to them. We give them when we call the function.

function sayHi(name) {  // name doesn't have any value before we call it
    console.log(`Hi there, ${name}!`);
}

// prints out "Hi there, undefined!" ... wooops
sayHi();  // forget to give the name variable a value

// prints out Hi there, Jason!
sayHi("Jason");  // name variable now gets a value of  "Jason"

Hi there, jasonj7! I tried looking at the snapshot but it seems like it may have been deleted. I get a bummer saying that the snapshot doesn't exist

I was trying to play around with parameters and arguments and gain more knowledge. All criticism welcome. :-)

Hi there, jasonj7! The problem here is that you have the parameters, but then you don't use them*. Parameters are variables but they are only available inside that function. I took the liberty of altering your responsejs.js file and think you might be interested in the results.

Feel free to comment out one of the console.log() at the bottom, but if you leave them both uncommented you will have to answer "yes" both times to the prompt. We're running the function twice, and the prompt occurs every time the function is run.

var jasonSandwich = "Chicken sandwich";
var jasonDrink = "Coke";
var jasonCrisps = "Ready Salted Crisps"

function goToTheShops(sandwich, drink, crisps) {

    var answer = prompt("Is it time to shop");
    if (answer === "yes") {
        // alert("Let's go to the shops");
        return `YAY! Now I have a ${sandwich}, ${drink}, and ${crisps}`;
    } else {
        alert("No, let's stay at home.");
    }
}  

console.log(goToTheShops(jasonSandwich, jasonDrink, jasonCrisps));
console.log(goToTheShops("ham and cheese sandwich", "root beer", "Doritos"));

I'm assuming here that we're both getting lunch So I put in my order, too.

Hope this helps!

edited for code clarification

I'm going to make your variable names a little different so that it becomes clear which is a global variable and which is a variable specific to inside the function.

jasonj7 It could reach outside into the global scope. I like to think of functions like cars with heavily tinted windows. They can see everything outside themselves: people walking dogs, stores, streets, trees. That is the "global" scope. They can even see other cars (functions). But nothing can see inside that car. It could be pristine and clean or have a thousand fast-food wrappers on the floor. No way to tell.

But we're sending the function the values that you declared up at the top. So the first argument which holds the value stored in jasonSandwich is assigned to the first parameter sandwich. The second argument jasonDrink is assigned to the second parameter drink. And the third argument jasonCrisps is assigned to the variable crisps.

If you were to try and add a console.log(crisps); at the bottom of the file, you would get undefined, because crisps only exist while that function is running.

jasonj7 The main point that I'm trying to get across to you is that parameters are variables. They are variables specific to that function.

This would also work:

function goToTheShops(blah, whatever, silly) {

    var answer = prompt("Is it time to shop");
    if (answer === "yes") {
        // alert("Let's go to the shops");
        return `YAY! Now I have a ${blah}, ${whatever}, and ${silly}`;
    } else {
        alert("No, let's stay at home.");
    }
} 

The arguments are the values and the parameters are the variables. So the first parameter (variable) gets the first argument (value). The second parameter (variable) gets the second argument (value).

So if I were to do this:

console.log(goToTheShops("meatball sub", "Sprite", "Cheetos")

It's exactly as if I had said "When you run this function, assign the string "meatball sub" to the variable blah. Then assign the variable whatever the string "Sprite". Then assign the variable silly the string "Cheetos". Run this code in this function using the variable names defined in the parameters and line up these values one to one that are in the call to the function.

Not really. Both methods are changeable. Consider the following.

var jasonSandwich = "Chicken sandwich";
var jasonDrink = "Coke";
var jasonCrisps = "Ready Salted Crisps"

function goToTheShops(sandwich, drink, crisps) {

    var answer = prompt("Is it time to shop");
    if (answer === "yes") {
        // alert("Let's go to the shops");
        return `YAY! Now I have a ${sandwich}, ${drink}, and ${crisps}`;
    } else {
        alert("No, let's stay at home.");
    }
}  

console.log(goToTheShops(jasonSandwich, jasonDrink, jasonCrisps));
console.log(goToTheShops("ham and cheese sandwich", "root beer", "Doritos"));

jasonSandwich = "barbeque";
jasonDrink = "iced tea";

console.log(goToTheShops(jasonSandwich, jasonDrink, jasonCrisps));

It's just that one method is a little more direct than the other. You can send the values in directly or you can send them by referencing them through a variable. But those are variables so you can change them

jasonj7 Ok I think we have a winner now! That's exactly right!

return `YAY! Now I have a ${sandwich}, ${drink}, and ${crisps}`;

To this:

return `YAY! Now I have a ${crisps}, ${drink}, and ${sandwich}`;

They print out in reverse order than what we had originally. Those are variables. And they were assigned a value the moment we called the function and sent the values to be assigned to them. They are assigned in order, but you can use them in any order you like. They're just... variables. Just like you've been dealing with all this time. The only real difference is that they're variables that belong to that function and nothing else.

Hi there, jasonj7! There's a few things going on. No, Mini is not defined. I'm pretty sure you meant the string "Mini" Also, if you want to print out that message your console.log either needs to be inside the function or you need to return the message. Take a look:

function carsToBuy( car1, car2, car3 ) {
    var car1 = "Mini";
    var car2 = "Ford";
    var car3 = "Peugot";
    var message = (`I really wanted to have a ${car1}, my wife has a ${car2}. I like the ${car3}.`);
  return message;
} 

console.log(carsToBuy("Tesla", "Honda", "FordFusion"));

But there's a problem here. I'm trying to assign the cars I like to it the variables car1, car2, and car3, but your variables inside your function are completely overwriting what I'm sending in. But I'm sure that's not what you're intending.

function carsToBuy(var car1, var car2, var car3)  // this is not syntactically correct, but these ARE variables. I'm trying to make this point abundantly clear

So try this:

function carsToBuy( car1, car2, car3 ) { 
  var message = (`I really wanted to have a ${car1}, my wife has a ${car2}. I like the ${car3}.`);
  return message;
} 

console.log(carsToBuy("Mini", "Ford", "Peugot"));
console.log(carsToBuy("Tesla", "Honda", "FordFusion"));

And you can use those variables in any way you want

function carsToBuy( car1, car2, car3 ) { 
  if(car1 == "Mini") {
      console.log("Oh I love the Mini, too!");
  }
  var message = (`I really wanted to have a ${car1}, my wife has a ${car2}. I like the ${car3}.`);
  return message;
} 

console.log(carsToBuy("Mini", "Ford", "Peugot"));
console.log(carsToBuy("Tesla", "Honda", "Ford Fusion"));

Give these a whirl!

Woops just saw your updated workspace snapshot! Yes, I tend to keep variables at the top of the file, but that's me