ECMAScript 2009, also known as ES5, was the first major revision to JavaScript.
This chapter describes the most important features of ES5.
ES5
is fully supported in all modern browsers:
Chrome | IE | Edge | Firefox | Safari | Opera |
Yes | 9.0 | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
"use strict"
defines that the JavaScript code should be executed in "strict mode".
With strict mode you can, for example, not use undeclared variables.
You can use strict mode in all your programs. It helps you to write cleaner code, like preventing you from using undeclared variables.
"use strict"
is just a string expression. Old browsers will not throw an error if they don't understand it.
Read more in JS Strict Mode.
The charAt()
method returns the character at a specified index (position) in a string:
ES5 allows property access on strings:
Property access on string might be a little unpredictable.
Read more in JS String Methods.
The \ method might not have universal support.
Older browsers might treat the spaces around the backslash differently.
Some older browsers do not allow spaces behind the \ character.
A safer way to break up a string literal, is to use string addition:
ES5 allows reserved words as property names:
The trim()
method removes whitespace from both sides of a string.
Read more in JS String Methods.
The isArray()
method checks whether an object is an array.
function myFunction() {
var fruits = ["Banana", "Orange", "Apple", "Mango"];
var x = document.getElementById("demo");
x.innerHTML = Array.isArray(fruits);
}
Try it Yourself »
Read more in JS Arrays.
The forEach()
method calls a function once for each array element.
var txt = "";
var numbers = [45, 4, 9, 16, 25];
numbers.forEach(myFunction);
function myFunction(value) {
txt = txt + value + "<br>";
}
Try it Yourself »
Learn more in JS Array Iteration Methods.
This example multiplies each array value by 2:
var numbers1 = [45, 4, 9, 16, 25];
var numbers2 = numbers1.map(myFunction);
function myFunction(value) {
return value * 2;
}
Try it Yourself »
Learn more in JS Array Iteration Methods.
This example creates a new array from elements with a value larger than 18:
var numbers = [45, 4, 9, 16, 25];
var over18 = numbers.filter(myFunction);
function myFunction(value) {
return value > 18;
}
Try it Yourself »
Learn more in JS Array Iteration Methods.
This example finds the sum of all numbers in an array:
var numbers1 = [45, 4, 9, 16, 25];
var sum = numbers1.reduce(myFunction);
function myFunction(total, value) {
return total + value;
}
Try it Yourself »
Learn more in JS Array Iteration Methods.
This example also finds the sum of all numbers in an array:
var numbers1 = [45, 4, 9, 16, 25];
var sum = numbers1.reduceRight(myFunction);
function myFunction(total, value) {
return total + value;
}
Try it Yourself »
Learn more in JS Array Iteration Methods.
This example checks if all values are over 18:
var numbers = [45, 4, 9, 16, 25];
var allOver18 = numbers.every(myFunction);
function myFunction(value) {
return value > 18;
}
Try it Yourself »
Learn more in JS Array Iteration Methods.
This example checks if some values are over 18:
var numbers = [45, 4, 9, 16, 25];
var allOver18 = numbers.some(myFunction);
function myFunction(value) {
return value > 18;
}
Try it Yourself »
Learn more in JS Array Iteration Methods.
Search an array for an element value and returns its position.
var fruits = ["Apple", "Orange", "Apple", "Mango"];
var a = fruits.indexOf("Apple");
Try it Yourself »
Learn more in JS Array Iteration Methods.
lastIndexOf()
is the same as indexOf()
, but searches from the end of the array.
var fruits = ["Apple", "Orange", "Apple", "Mango"];
var a = fruits.lastIndexOf("Apple");
Try it Yourself »
Learn more in JS Array Iteration Methods.
A common use of JSON is to receive data from a web server.
Imagine you received this text string from a web server:
'{"name":"John", "age":30, "city":"New York"}'
The JavaScript function JSON.parse()
is used to convert the text into a JavaScript object:
var obj = JSON.parse('{"name":"John", "age":30, "city":"New York"}');
Try it Yourself »
Read more in our JSON Tutorial.
A common use of JSON is to send data to a web server.
When sending data to a web server, the data has to be a string.
Imagine we have this object in JavaScript:
var obj = {name:"John", age:30, city:"New York"};
Use the JavaScript function JSON.stringify()
to convert it into a string.
var myJSON = JSON.stringify(obj);
The result will be a string following the JSON notation.
myJSON is now a string, and ready to be sent to a server:
var obj = {name:"John", age:30, city:"New York"};
var myJSON = JSON.stringify(obj);
document.getElementById("demo").innerHTML = myJSON;
Try it Yourself »
Read more in our JSON Tutorial.
Date.now()
returns the number of milliseconds since zero date (January 1. 1970 00:00:00 UTC).
Date.now()
returns the same as getTime() performed on a Date
object.
Learn more in JS Dates.
The toISOString()
method converts a Date object to a string, using the ISO standard format:
const d = new Date();
document.getElementById("demo").innerHTML = d.toISOString();
Try it Yourself »
toJSON()
converts a Date object into a string, formatted as a JSON date.
JSON dates have the same format as the ISO-8601 standard: YYYY-MM-DDTHH:mm:ss.sssZ:
ES5 lets you define object methods with a syntax that looks like getting or setting a property.
This example creates a getter for a property called fullName:
// Create an object:
var person = {
firstName: "John",
lastName : "Doe",
get fullName() {
return this.firstName + " " + this.lastName;
}
};
// Display data from the object using a getter:
document.getElementById("demo").innerHTML = person.fullName;
Try it Yourself »
This example creates a setter and a getter for the language property:
var person = {
firstName: "John",
lastName : "Doe",
language : "NO",
get lang() {
return this.language;
},
set lang(value) {
this.language = value;
}
};
// Set an object property using a setter:
person.lang = "en";
// Display data from the object using a getter:
document.getElementById("demo").innerHTML = person.lang;
Try it Yourself »
This example uses a setter to secure upper case updates of language:
var person = {
firstName: "John",
lastName : "Doe",
language : "NO",
set lang(value) {
this.language = value.toUpperCase();
}
};
// Set an object property using a setter:
person.lang = "en";
// Display data from the object:
document.getElementById("demo").innerHTML = person.language;
Try it Yourself »
Learn more about Gettes and Setters in JS Object Accessors
Object.defineProperty()
is a new Object method in ES5.
It lets you define an object property and/or change a property's value and/or metadata.
// Create an Object:
var person = {
firstName: "John",
lastName : "Doe",
language : "NO",
};
// Change a Property:
Object.defineProperty(person, "language", {
value: "EN",
writable : true,
enumerable : true,
configurable : true
});
// Enumerate Properties
var txt = "";
for (var x in person) {
txt += person[x] + "<br>";
}
document.getElementById("demo").innerHTML = txt;
Try it Yourself »
Next example is the same code, except it hides the language property from enumeration:
// Create an Object:
var person = {
firstName: "John",
lastName : "Doe",
language : "NO",
};
// Change a Property:
Object.defineProperty(person, "language", {
value: "EN",
writable : true,
enumerable : false,
configurable : true
});
// Enumerate Properties
var txt = "";
for (var x in person) {
txt += person[x] + "<br>";
}
document.getElementById("demo").innerHTML = txt;
Try it Yourself »
This example creates a setter and a getter to secure upper case updates of language:
// Create an Object:
var person = {
firstName: "John",
lastName : "Doe",
language : "NO"
};
// Change a Property:
Object.defineProperty(person, "language", {
get : function() { return language },
set : function(value) { language = value.toUpperCase()}
});
// Change Language
person.language = "en";
// Display Language
document.getElementById("demo").innerHTML = person.language;
Try it Yourself »
ES5 added a lot of new Object Methods to JavaScript:
// Create object with an existing object as prototype
Object.create(parent, donor)
// Adding or changing an object property
Object.defineProperty(object, property, descriptor)
// Adding or changing object properties
Object.defineProperties(object, descriptors)
// Accessing Properties
Object.getOwnPropertyDescriptor(object, property)
// Returns all properties as an array
Object.getOwnPropertyNames(object)
// Accessing the prototype
Object.getPrototypeOf(object)
// Returns enumerable properties as an array
Object.keys(object)
// Prevents adding properties to an object
Object.preventExtensions(object)
// Returns true if properties can be added to an object
Object.isExtensible(object)
// Prevents changes of object properties (not values)
Object.seal(object)
// Returns true if object is sealed
Object.isSealed(object)
// Prevents any changes to an object
Object.freeze(object)
// Returns true if object is frozen
Object.isFrozen(object)
Learn more in Object ECMAScript5.
With the bind()
method, an object can borrow a method from another object.
This example creates 2 objects (person and member).
The member object borrows the fullname method from the person object:
const person = {
firstName:"John",
lastName: "Doe",
fullName: function () {
return this.firstName + " " + this.lastName;
}
}
const member = {
firstName:"Hege",
lastName: "Nilsen",
}
let fullName = person.fullName.bind(member);
Try it Yourself »
Learn more in Function bind().
ES5 allows trailing commas in object and array definitions:
person = {
firstName: "John",
lastName: " Doe",
age: 46,
}
points = [
1,
5,
10,
25,
40,
100,
];
WARNING !!!
JSON does not allow trailing commas.
// Allowed:
var person = '{"firstName":"John", "lastName":"Doe", "age":46}'
JSON.parse(person)
// Not allowed:
var person = '{"firstName":"John", "lastName":"Doe", "age":46,}'
JSON.parse(person)
// Allowed:
points = [40, 100, 1, 5, 25, 10]
// Not allowed:
points = [40, 100, 1, 5, 25, 10,]