CODEWITHSUNDEEP
javascriptjqueryfunctionvariables
JacobTheDev
JacobTheDev

Reputation: 18520

How do I set variables by name when calling a function?

Say I've got this code:

function helloWorld() {
    console.log(helloText);
}

When I call this function, I'd like to do something like this:

helloWord(
    helloText = "some example text";
)

which of course doesn't work. But the idea is that I want to change a variable by referencing it's name when calling that function. I see numerous jQuery slideshows and stuff that do this, but I can't seem to figure it out. The closest thing I can find is this:

function helloWorld(helloText) {
    console.log(helloText);
}

helloWorld("some example text");

Which will work, but with a longer list of variables, that gets unwieldy. So how can I instead change the variable value by using its name?

Upvotes: 0

Views: 88

Answers (2)

Felix Kling
Felix Kling

Reputation: 816334

Building on the other answers, ECMAScript 6 introduces destructuring and default parameters. This allows you to easily simulate keyword arguments:

function helloWorld({helloText} = {}) {
    console.log(helloText);
}

helloWord({
    helloText: "some example text"
});

You can use ES6 features today with preprocessors such as 6to5.

Upvotes: 2

Eudis Duran
Eudis Duran

Reputation: 782

There are no keyword arguments in Javascript. In order to mimic that behavior, you could use an object literal, like so:

function helloWorld(args) {
    console.log(args.helloText);
}

helloWord({
    helloText: "some example text"
});

Upvotes: 5

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