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Start your free trialCarlos Ramirez
5,084 PointsWhy using i += 1 instead of i++ in the third part of for declaration?
Why using i += 1 instead of i++ in the third part of for declaration. I have seen many videos which uses i += 1. Why?
2 Answers
Greg Kaleka
39,021 PointsHey Carlos,
These two are exactly the same. It's just two different ways of writing the same thing. i++
is just a shortcut for i += 1
, which itself is a shortcut for i = i + 1
. These all do the same thing, and it's just a question of how explicit you want to be.
Cheers
-Greg
dylan jasper
1,928 PointsI watched a video from Douglas Crockford (guy who wrote JavaScript: The Good Parts) who said that he never uses the prefix or postfix ++ operator as some people donβt understand the difference and it can lead to mistakes. He just sticks with x += 1 style.
Carlos Ramirez
5,084 PointsCarlos Ramirez
5,084 PointsThank you. My question is why teachers in treehouse decide to use i += 1 instead of i++ (which is more commonly used at least in Java). You know i += 1 is harder to write and also is more easy to make mistakes. I saw a question months ago which someone following the courses wrote i =+ 1. What I mean is that must be a very good reason for using i += 1, I want to know which is.
Greg Kaleka
39,021 PointsGreg Kaleka
39,021 PointsThere's not really a reason other than preference.
If you want a reason for why someone might have a preference for += 1 over ++, a recent change to Swift (for iOS programming) gives a great explanation.
Swift did away with the ++ operator altogether. Here are the reasons Chris Latner, the creator of Swift, cited (not all of these apply to Javascript, but many do):
Here's a Stack Overflow thread specific to Javascript that has good arguments on both sides of the "debate".
Steven Parker
231,269 PointsSteven Parker
231,269 PointsNote that "
i++
", "i += 1
", and "i = i + 1
" are all the same when used as stand-alone statements. But when used as an expression, "i++
" returns the value before incrementing, while the others return the final value. A fourth option is "++i
" which also returns the final value.Greg Kaleka
39,021 PointsGreg Kaleka
39,021 PointsGood point Steven - that distinction is really the reason for item 6 on Chris's list. The fact that you can do that is also the reason for # 5. If you're taking advantage of the difference between i++ and ++i, you're probably getting too cute.
Steven Parker
231,269 PointsSteven Parker
231,269 PointsI don't think I'd use the term "cute", but I agree that making use of the difference between the pre-increment and post-increment operators is definitely an advanced topic and not recommended for beginning programming. I only brought it up as a point of information.
For most students, I recommend sticking to the addition assignment operator ("
+=
") for consistency and readability.Greg Kaleka
39,021 PointsGreg Kaleka
39,021 PointsMy mistake
Sure - there are arguments to be made for the operators. They exist, after all! Absolutely worth bringing up.