This comes up every few months on my various teams, so I decided to compile a nice, simple list of them for easy reference.

Advantages to shorthand:

• Easier to read
• Saves time
• Saves bytes

Variable Increment/Decrement

Very useful for loops.

growCount = growCount + 1;
//Can be rewritten as:
growCount++;

shrinkCount = shrinkCount - 1;
//Can be rewritten as:
shrinkCount--;

Variable Change

moreStuff = moreStuff + 100;
//Can be rewritten as:
moreStuff += 100;

lessStuff = lessStuff - 100;
//Can be rewritten as:
lessStuff -= 100;

wayMoreStuff = moreStuff * 100;
//Can be rewritten as:
wayMoreStuff *= 100;

wayLessStuff = wayLessStuff / 100;
//Can be rewritten as:
wayLessStuff /= 100;

Ternary Operator

This is a great code saver for when you have a variable dependent on a if-else statement.

if(myAge > 16) {
	canDrive = true;
} else {
	canDrive = false;
}
//Not only does this lend itself to scoping problems,
//there's a faster way to do this:
var canDrive = (myAge > 16) ? true : false;

We just reduced five lines of code to one.

Ditching the Brackets

You can ditch the brackets around blocks of code, if you only have one statement.

//For loops:
for (i=0; i < max; i++) console.log(i);

//If statements
if (doorUnlocked) goIn = true;

Default Values in JavaScript Functions

Until we get JavaScript 2.0, we have to do some fancy footwork to make JavaScript act like "grown up" programming languages.

//The old stand-by.
function cheer(cheerFor) {
	if(cheerFor === null || cheerFor === undefined || cheerFor === ''){
		cheerFor= 'team';
	}
	alert('Go ' + cheerFor + '!');
}
cheer('Fighting Studebakers'); //With argument
cheer(); //Without argument

//Can be written shorter:
function cheer(cheerFor) {
	cheerFor = cheerFor || 'team';
	alert('Go ' + cheerFor + '!');
}
cheer('Fighting Studebakers'); //With argument
cheer(); //Without argument