Symbols in ES6: A New Data Type

Symbols are a new data type introduced in ES6, and they offer several unique features that make them useful for specific use cases. According to Beau Carne, symbols are "unique and immutable data types" that can be used as tokens to represent unique IDs. They can be created using the factory function `symbol()`, which takes a string argument to identify the symbol.

One of the key properties of symbols is their uniqueness. When comparing two symbols, they will always return `false` regardless of whether they are equal or not. For example, if we create two symbols with the same name, like this: `const symbol1 = symbol("symbol1"); const symbol2 = symbol("symbol1");`, we can see that they do not have the same value, even though they have the same name. This uniqueness makes them useful for use cases where a consistent and predictable behavior is required.

Another interesting property of symbols is their immutability. Once created, a symbol cannot be changed or modified in any way. This means that once you create a symbol, its value will remain the same throughout the execution of your program. For example, if we try to assign a new value to a symbol using the assignment operator (`=`), it will throw an error.

Symbols can also be used as property keys in objects. One of the benefits of using symbols as property keys is that they do not clash with other property names, whether strings or symbols. This means that you can use symbols as unique identifiers for properties without worrying about collisions with existing property names. For example, if we create an object like this: `const obj = { [symbol("key")]: "value" };`, the key will always be unique and will not clash with any other property name.

In addition to their use as property keys, symbols can also be used to represent constants in a program. This is particularly useful when you want to ensure that certain values or concepts are treated consistently throughout your code. For example, if we create a constant `const color = symbol("color");`, every time we use the value `"color"` in our code, it will actually refer to the same symbol instance.

Using symbols can help prevent mistakes and inconsistencies in your code. For example, if you have multiple variables with the same name but different values, using symbols can ensure that each variable has its own unique identifier. This makes it easier to debug and maintain your code.

In conclusion, symbols are a new data type introduced in ES6 that offers several unique features and use cases. Their uniqueness and immutability make them useful for specific applications, such as creating unique property keys or representing constants in a program. By using symbols effectively, you can write more predictable and maintainable code.

"WEBVTTKind: captionsLanguage: ensymbols symbols are a new data type in es6 a symbol is a unique and immutable data type they are tokens that may be used as unique ids you create symbols via the factory function symbol just like that you can also create symbols with a text inside the parentheses a string the only purpose of the string inside the parentheses there is just to identify the symbol another thing interesting about symbols is that they are always unique for instance if we do and if we run that it's going to be false but also if we put symbol 2 so you can see they both have the name symbol 2 and we run that again and it's still going to be false symbols are always unique they never equal each other no matter what and if we check the type of the symbol it's always symbol see another thing interesting about symbols is that if you try to convert a symbol to a string always throws an exception so if you do if you just try to add a string with a symbol it's gonna throw a type error not get an error you would actually have to explicitly convert that to a string and now you can see symbol colon symbol 12 and it's all this is how it looks when it gets converted to a string there are two main use cases i want to talk about symbols are mainly used as unique property keys because a symbol never clashes with any other property either a symbol or a string so if you look at this use case one symbols is property keys you can see the cons my key equals symbols created and let object just uh creating an object and then if you add the key to the object then if you just console.log the key in the object we just run that you will see one two three and it's always going to be unique another use case is the constants representing concepts so if you create constants for all these different colors then you can use these constants in your code so every time you call symbol red a new symbol is created so one symbol red is not the same as another symbol red therefore color red this color red can never be mistaken for another value and that would be different if it were the string red the string red could be mistaken for another value but this color is every time you put color red it's not going to be the same as a variable that's just equal to red as a string thanks for watching my name is beau carnes check the description for links to more information about symbols don't forget to subscribe and remember and remember use your code for goodsymbols symbols are a new data type in es6 a symbol is a unique and immutable data type they are tokens that may be used as unique ids you create symbols via the factory function symbol just like that you can also create symbols with a text inside the parentheses a string the only purpose of the string inside the parentheses there is just to identify the symbol another thing interesting about symbols is that they are always unique for instance if we do and if we run that it's going to be false but also if we put symbol 2 so you can see they both have the name symbol 2 and we run that again and it's still going to be false symbols are always unique they never equal each other no matter what and if we check the type of the symbol it's always symbol see another thing interesting about symbols is that if you try to convert a symbol to a string always throws an exception so if you do if you just try to add a string with a symbol it's gonna throw a type error not get an error you would actually have to explicitly convert that to a string and now you can see symbol colon symbol 12 and it's all this is how it looks when it gets converted to a string there are two main use cases i want to talk about symbols are mainly used as unique property keys because a symbol never clashes with any other property either a symbol or a string so if you look at this use case one symbols is property keys you can see the cons my key equals symbols created and let object just uh creating an object and then if you add the key to the object then if you just console.log the key in the object we just run that you will see one two three and it's always going to be unique another use case is the constants representing concepts so if you create constants for all these different colors then you can use these constants in your code so every time you call symbol red a new symbol is created so one symbol red is not the same as another symbol red therefore color red this color red can never be mistaken for another value and that would be different if it were the string red the string red could be mistaken for another value but this color is every time you put color red it's not going to be the same as a variable that's just equal to red as a string thanks for watching my name is beau carnes check the description for links to more information about symbols don't forget to subscribe and remember and remember use your code for good\n"