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Shorten codes with the comma operator

Written byPhuoc Nguyen
Created
06 Mar, 2021
Category
Trick
Tags
JavaScript
The comma operator (`,`) used in the following form evaluates the left-hand side (`a`) and returns the value of the right-hand side (`b`):
js
const c = (a, b);
We can use it to shorten codes in some cases.

Shorten an if statement

js
let result;
if (condition) {
doSomething();
result = value;
} else {
result = other;
}

// Shorten version
const result = condition ? (doSomething(), value) : other;

Shorten an arrow function

js
const arrowFn = (arg) => {
doSomething();
return result;
};

// Shorten version
const arrowFn = (arg) => (doSomething(), result);
Here is a few examples of using the comma operator to shorten arrow functions:
js
const countOccurrences = (arr) => arr.reduce((p, c) => ((p[c] = ++p[c] || 1), p), {});

countOccurrences([2, 1, 3, 3, 2, 3]);
// { '1': 1, '2': 2, '3': 3 }
js
const chunk = (arr, s) => arr.reduce((a, e, i) => (i % s ? a[a.length - 1].push(e) : a.push([e]), a), []);

chunk([1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8], 3);
// [[1, 2, 3], [4, 5, 6], [7, 8]]

See also

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Phước Nguyễn