Values assigned with let
and const
are seen everywhere in JavaScript. It's become common to hear them explained like so:
"
const
creates an constant (immutable) binding while bindings created withlet
can be changed (mutated) without issue."
Although this is an accurate description, it's often misinterpreted to mean that data bound with let
is mutable, while data bound via const
is immutable, however this doesn't happen to be the case. In this lesson we'll explore this topic further and learn how to create immutable objects in the form of shallow copies using Object.freeze
.
It is possible to update array's item value:
const magicNumbers = [1,2,3]; magicNumbers[0] = 4; console.log(magicNumbers) // 4,2,3
But not able to reassign:
const magicNumbers = [1,2,3]; magicNumbers = [4,5,6]; // error
We can create immutable object in form of shallow copies using Object.freeze:
const magicNumbers = Object.freeze([1,2,3]); magicNumbers[0] = 4; // cannot update the value, but no error
If we want error report:
"use strict"; const magicNumbers = Object.freeze([1,2,3]); magicNumbers[0] = 4;